


The one that's on my mind.

by traumaesistenziale



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Android Edward Nygma, Crushes, Jealous Oswald Cobblepot, Jealousy, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining Edward Nygma, Pining Oswald Cobblepot, Riddles, alternative universe, robot Edward Nygma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-05-31 04:53:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 23,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19418893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/traumaesistenziale/pseuds/traumaesistenziale
Summary: Robot!Edward AU. Oswald is trying to impress Jim, his crush, with a gift. Edward is an android, who happens to be that gift. Oswald would have never thought he could fall for a robot. Edward has never felt these feelings before."«Jim doesn't seem to mind my presence, but he isn't happy about it either. No one will let me do my job properly, so chances to impress him have been scarce. I apologize for failing at my main purpose so far, but I can assure you I will keep trying.»Oswald's brow furrows slightly.«What do you mean, they don't let you do your job? Just do it!»Edward takes note of this new directive, right next to the one telling him what his “purpose” is.«Of course. Will do.»"





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The title is a reference to Katy Perry's song, 365. My friend Mary (merryandrewsworld on tumblr) made me listen to it and she gave me the idea for this AU.
> 
> Here's the link, if you wanna listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrbgUtCfnC0&ab_channel=KatyPerryVEVO
> 
> "I want you to be the one that’s on my mind, on my mind, on my mind  
> I want you to be there on a Monday night, Tuesday night, every night  
> Are you going to be the one that’s on my mind 365, all the time"
> 
> Those are the lines i'm referencing :)

There's a light whirring noise, then it fades into the background, and new sounds reach him. His vision is unfocused, like static, for just a few seconds, than the first pictures appear. The lights are too bright, but the sensors in his eyes quickly adjust, making perfect sight possible.

He blinks. This is the first time he's ever done that. The first time he's ever done anything.

He looks around. A couple people are fussing around him, checking some screens and then looking back at him.

«Eye response is good.» says one of them.

«So, how is it coming along?» says another voice. He can't see who it is.

«It will be ready in a matter of days, Mr Cobblepot. We just need to run all the necessary tests.» the other one replies.

Moments later, the new person steps into view. This Mr Cobblepot, presumably.

The man has black hair, he is wearing a suit, and his steps are uneven. His eyes are blue and they are staring back at him – studying him, one can assume.

A grin forms on that face.

Curiosity. That's new too. He wants to know more about this person.

«Can it move?» the man asks, eyes never moving away from him.

«We haven't conducted the final test on that yet, but everything should be in working order.»

He notices all the subtle changes in his expression. The nostrils dilate a little, the eyebrows move closer together, the posture stiffens. The man must be unhappy with that reply.

«Well, do that, then. Can it talk, yet?»

«Yes, just a second.»

The other person reaches behind him and touches something.

«It should be good now. Try talking to him.»

The man looks uncertain for a moment, then he speaks again.

«Can you hear me? Hello, Edward.» he says.

«Edward...?» the sound that comes out of him, the first sound he's ever made, is a bit metallic.

«That's your name.» the man explains.

«What is your name?»

«I'm Oswald Cobblepot.»

«Hello, Oswald.»

The man – Oswald – smiles.

Edward is new to the world. He has all the knowledge he needs, and by his looks, he should be a grown adult, but he has only been alive for a few days, and he hasn't seen much, besides the lab where he's been created.

The engineers talk between themselves and only interact with him when strictly necessary to monitor his functions.

Boredom. That's a new thing too, but he's forced to get acquainted with it pretty soon.

He has been given language, words, concepts, information. All of it, and he has nothing to do with it. Until he decided to _do_ something with it, instead. The engineers don't seem to like it. They were impressed at first, patting each other on the back for creating such a sophisticated AI, but they got tired pretty fast. He has been wired to monitor people's responses, so he can tell what they are feeling, for the most part. He doesn't understand why they feel the way they feel, though. Nobody has taught him that, yet.

«What belongs to you but others use more than you do?»

Nobody answers. Instead, one of the scientists groans. Ed turns his head to look at her, waiting for a response.

«Do you give up?» he asks after a few moment.

«Sure. Tell us, what is it?»

If the structure of his face allowed it, he would have smiled. Luckily for him, they are still working on that part and would complete it shortly – they have been ordered to make him look as much like a human as possible.

«Your name.»

The two engineers groan again and one rolls his eyes.

«How long is this going to take?» a familiar voice speaks.

Edward reflexively turns his head to face the person who just entered the room. It's Oswald.

Ed watches him approach with his uneven step, relying on a cane for support, wearing a black suit on a white shirt, stopping before him, but facing the employees, so Ed can perfectly see the profile of his face.

«What is black and white, but is not a newspaper? Has wings but is not an airplane?»

Oswald turns to him, eyebrows raising for a moment, in surprise, before falling down. The man studies him, then looks at the engineers, but all they do is look away awkwardly.

«Is that a riddle?» the man asks, looking back into Ed's faintly glowing eyes.

He sounds surprised more than anything, but if Ed's algorithms aren't failing him, his prediction is that it's gonna turn into annoyance soon. And yet, he persists.

The engineers still aren't replying.

«Do you need more clues? What lays eggs but is not a chicken? Eats fish but isn't a whale?» Ed continues, completely unprompted.

Oswald turns to look at the other two, but once again they look apologetic and try to avoid his eyes and focus on their work. Then he turns back to Ed. He looks confused, but focused. Maybe he is trying to figure out the answer, Ed thinks.

«I don't... I don't know, what-... what is it?»

«A penguin.»

Oswald's eyebrows shoot up and his eyes widen. He turns to the other two, waiting for them to explain this, and finally one of them speaks.

«We didn't teach him riddles. It must be some kind of glitch, we can't seem to fix it... I'm sorry, Mr Cobblepot, we are doing our best.»

«He's inventing riddles on his own? Why?» Oswald asks.

«I'm telling you, it's... it's a glitch. He is a robot, he doesn't do things for any purpose, other than what's dictated by his programming.»

Edward watches this exchange, following the back and forth curiously.

«If you want to know, you could just ask, Oswald.»

The man turns to him, looking surprised by that remark. He makes an amused face with a little uneven smirk.

«Okay, then. Why are you telling riddles?» he asks.

«Because I like them.»

The man looks even more surprised to hear that.

«Is he supposed to “like” things?» he asks to the engineers.

«He is... he is glitching again, I'm sorry, Mr Cobblepot, we'll get on it right away.» one of them explains.

The next time Edward sees Oswald, it's twenty-three hours, thirty-five minutes and sixteen seconds later.

Edward is following the instructions of the engineers, completing a series of tasks of increasing complexity, when Oswald walks in.

«Good morning, Oswald.» Edward greets him, gaining a curious look and a small smile.

«Good morning, Edward.»

The man walks closer to the table at which Edward is sitting. He is currently solving a puzzle. Correction: he has just finished solving a puzzle.

«A minute and twenty-four seconds.» comments one of the engineers.

«Is that good?» Oswald asks.

«Even to the most skilled human it would have taken days, sir.» she explains. Oswald looks impressed.

The man turns to him.

«Did you have fun?» he asks. Ed sees the engineers frown.

«Sir, it's a robot, it doesn't have “fun”, he has no receptors for-»

«Yes. I wish to solve more puzzles.» Edward replies, not looking away from Oswald's eyes. The other man's eyes linger on him just a little bit longer, then a small smile forms of his lips and he looks away. Edward doesn't. He is intrigued by this man, he wants to know more about him, to understand him.

«Very well, I'll get you some more puzzles.»

«Something more challenging, perhaps?»

Oswald's eyes are back on him and he raises one eyebrow, while his smile widens. He looks amused.

«Of course.»

Twenty-five hours and thirty minutes later Oswald is back again.

Edward is sitting at the same table, waiting for the engineers to find something else to do for him. He's already solved everything they have tried to throw at him, and they seem satisfied with his abilities, but they are growing increasingly stressed out by his requests to have more. They insists that a robot shouldn't have needs or desires. It must be the glitch. They can't seem to be able to fix it.

Edward doesn't know about that, he doesn't understand. Well, of course he understands, he has been given knowledge about all sorts of things, including androids such as himself, but he has no idea why he is the way he is. He just knows that he enjoys solving an enigma, it gives him some sort of thrill. It's hard to explain... that's odd too, isn't it? He has been given the language to express himself, he knows every single word in the english language, he should know how to explain everything.

«Hello, Oswald.»

«Hi, Edward.» Oswald greets him back, walking up to the table and placing a small box with blue markings right in front of him. Edward looks at it for a moment, determining what this object is.

«It's the hardest puzzle I could find. The man at the store said it took some people weeks at end to-»

Edward reaches for it. From the moment he placed his eyes on it, the solution unfolded in his circuits and it simply comes natural to him to follow those instructions, until the box falls open, before Oswald is even done speaking. It takes just a few seconds. Oswald's words die in his mouth and he looks dumbfounded.

«Wha- wow, how... Well, I suppose that makes sense. You aren't human, after all.» he comments with a smile.

Edward looks up from the puzzle and meets his eyes. The man tenses up almost imperceptibly to the human eye, but Edward notices.

«Thank you for the puzzle.»

He sees the man relax again and look back for a few seconds longer, before averting his eyes.

«N-no problem.»

They have given up on puzzles. They says they have already tested that aspect of his functionality, they don't need to anymore.

Edward understood, and decided to comply, but he simply cannot help himself, so, since he's been left nothing else to do, he returns to riddles, to much of the engineers' dismay.

«What has cities but no houses, has forests but no trees, and has rivers but no fish?»

The engineer groans and looks up from her work. She has a panel open in his chest and she is currently checking that everything in there is working as it should, working with very small tools to operate the wires and mechanisms.

«A map!» exclaims the other engineer after a few moments. Edward perks up and looks at him.

«That's correct.»

«Please, don't encourage him.» the other scolds her coworker.

«Still with the riddles, I see.»

Edward turns his head towards the door where Oswald is standing.

Since they won't give him any more puzzles, Edward figured out he'd find one of his own to solve. Oswald. This man is a mystery to him. He doesn't know enough about him to understand his motivations, to know what he really wants. Who is he, really? He comes in every day, and every say Edward's curiosity grows a little more.

«There isn't much else for me to do in here.» Edward comments. Oswald hums in agreement.

«You'll have a lot to do once you are ready, worry not.» the man says, walking closer.

«What do you mean?»

«Once I deliver you to Jim, you will work at the precinct. There will be plenty of work for you, there.»

This is news for Edward. This is the first time he hears of this, and the first time this Jim person has ever been mentioned to him.

«Who is Jim? A police officer?»

Edward sees a small smile form on Oswald's face.

«He is a detective.»

He notices Oswald's tone sounds somewhat softer. These little details are still hard for him to decipher properly, but he can't help but take note of them.

«I'm not staying here?» he asks.

«Oh, no, you will be a gift for Jim.» Oswald explains chirpily.

Edward realizes he won't have much time to figure this man out if he is going to be leaving soon, but now he is also curious about this Jim.

The day of his departure from the lab approaches. One of the engineers is finishing applying the fake skin to his fingers, making sure it adheres perfectly to the surface, perfectly covering the metal underneath, like with the rest of his body.

«And we are done.» the man says, taking a step back and admiring his work, «Move your hands.» he orders.

Ed does that, looking down at the way his extremities look now. It's extremely realistic. He looks up again and both engineers look satisfied. Now Edward feels curiosity again. He wants to know what he looks like too. He wants to see his own face, know what everybody sees when they look at him.

«Can I have a mirror?» he asks. The other two look surprised and exchange a glance with each other.

«Sure...» one of them says, starting to walk out of the room, presumably to go get one for him.

Edward hears a familiar sound and he turns to face the door. Those steps are unmistakable, and sure enough, there is standing Oswald, with his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide. Then he walks closer, and Ed angles his body towards him.

The man observes his body, instinctively reaching out to touch his cheek. Ed follows the movement of the other's hand with his eyes. He feels a light pressure where the other's fingers come into contact with his skin. The other gasps, before retracting his hand.

«This is incredible. He looks so human!» Oswald compliments the engineer, who smiles proudly.

«Do I really look human?» Edward asks. He is curious, again.

Oswald stares at him for a moment, then nods and smiles.

The other one of Oswald's employees returns, carrying a small mirror, and stops in front of Edward, angling it so that he can see his reflection. Oswald is surprised by this, but says nothing and watches.

Edward looks. He can see his face for the first time. Oswald is right, he does look human. He reaches for his own face, pressing his fingers into the skin, finding it surprisingly soft, despite the hard metal underneath it. He opens his mouth, watching how his lips stretch, he opens and closes his eyes, he squints, he raises first one eyebrow, then the other, then both. He sticks out his tongue for a moment, then closes his mouth.

«What do you think?» Oswald asks him. Edward looks at him, and he notices the engineers look nervous.

«I am virtually indistinguishable from a human.» he pauses, then as a second thought he adds, «If you didn't know I was an android, you wouldn't think twice about it.»

To everyone's surprise, Oswald laughs. He can tell the other two are surprised, because they raise their eyebrows and their eyes widen, but they do not speak, and instead share a quick glance with one another.

«This is by design. I want Jim to feel comfortable around you, since you'll be his personal assistant. He needs to be able to trust you and rely on you. That's easier to do if you look like this, instead of looking like Terminator.»

Edward understands that reference, it's in his database. He doesn't find it humorous, but he understands the point Oswald is trying to make. He looks into the mirror again. Would his normal appearance be that jarring to other humans? He wonders.

The two engineers quickly scurry away, and Edward realizes Oswald sent them away with just one look. He has to wonder how a man can have this kind of power. He considers that it might be simply because he is their employer, but he reaches the conclusion that it must be more than that. Maybe this man is more dangerous than Edward realized. Edward's danger receptors aren't sending him any signal that he should be worried about his safety, though, so he isn't too concerned.

Once they are alone, Oswald steps closer to him, and he watched his movements. He sees him reach for his head, but he doesn't move, keeping his eyes fixated on the man's face. The other's fingers pass through his hair, lingering a moment longer, before ceasing the contact.

«So soft... just like real hair. Jim's gotta like this.» Oswald comments with a satisfied grin.

Edward studies the man for a moment.

«Can you tell me more about Jim?» he asks, surprising the other. Edward notices a slight flush on the man's face.

«Yes, of course. I was about to, anyway. You need to know more if I want you to be effective...»

Edward slightly tilts his head.

«Effective?»

«Yes. I'm trying to impress him. And you are, well, you are already impressive, but I want you to know what you are dealing with.»

Edward listens and instantly processes all the information, filtering and filing. One things sticks out, it's the fact that Oswald's pupils dilated.

Edward reaches for the man's chest, placing his palm flat on it. The other is too surprised to react for a moment, but then he pushes his hand away and he frowns slightly.

«What are you doing?»

«Checking your vitals. As I suspected, you heart rate increased.» he states as a matter of fact.

Oswald's eyes widen and his cheeks get more flushed. He mouthes wordlessly for a moment, before regaining composure.

«I don't know what you are trying to insinuate, but-»

«Accelerated heartbeat, dilated pupils, blushing, all signs that indicate strong emotion. In particular, that you like the person you are talking about.»

Oswald scowls and him, then sighs and smiles.

«Alright, fine. Yeah, I do like him, that's what the gift is for.» he admits, averting his eyes.

«You are hoping he will reciprocate your feelings in exchange for something of material value? All the information in my database suggests-»

«I don't care what your database suggests, just shut up.» Oswald interrupts him. Edward obeys.

He was going to explain that as far as he knows, humans tend to value feelings over objects, and actions over words or gifts, but the other didn't let him finish.

«I apologize. Maybe it's not my place to comment on your romantic life. I was merely trying to help.»

The other finally looks like he is relaxing a little.

«Sure. Well, anyway, Jim is... he is a friend. We don't always agree on everything... actually, well... we almost never agree. We have different methods to deal with things. He is one of the few actually good cops in this city, he likes to do things by the rules, and I... well, I do to, we simply follow a different set of rules.»

Edward watches the other while he explains.

«If you don't get along, why do you like him so much?»

By the other's reaction, he has so infer he asked something inappropriate again.

«He's just-... just... it's my business why I like him, okay? We have history, you wouldn't understand.» the other dismisses him. Ed tilts his head to the side.

«I would like to understand. Am I supposed to act as, what is commonly known as, a “wingman”?»

The other's eyes go wide again.

«No! What the-... you just do your job! Whatever Jim asks you to do, you do. You... just stay put, and do as you are told.»

The man continues to look increasingly more flustered. Edward notices the way his eyelashes flutter when he blinks quickly and the way his freckles become less apparent when his cheeks turn a slightly more intense shade of pink.

«I must apologize again.»

Oswald looks at him. Edward can tell by the way his nostrils dilate that he is angry, but he tries to dissimulate and calms himself down, sighing instead.

«It's fine. Just, don't get ideas.»

The mechanism in his face activates, the one that allows him to smile, now that he has actual synthetic lips attached to it. He's never smiled before. He hopes it doesn't look odd or something.

The other stares at him for just a moment longer, but then his eyes are averted, and Ed doesn't have the time to properly analyze that reaction, before the other speaks again.

«Anyway... don't make me look bad, alright? All you were made for was impress Jim, make him grateful to me for the gift. That's your only purpose.»

That sentence gets filed away along with all relevant information, but for some reason, it settles on a forefront level, closer to the surface, so that it's always present and very easily retrievable. It really sticks with Edward.

Even after Oswald leaves and Edward is alone in the lab, the thought lingers.

«My only purpose...»

The day finally comes, and Edward will be escorted outside of the lab for the first time. He is eager to accomplish his purpose. If he was created for a reason, he figures he should do his best to cater to that.

One last detail is added. One of the engineers hands him a pair of glasses. Edward looks at them in his hands, trying to figure out the purpose of those.

«Statistically, people tend to regard someone wearing glasses as smarter. Those are purely for the aesthetic, but it might help making people want to rely on you more.» one of the engineers explains.

«It was Mr Cobblepot's idea.» she adds.

Edward looks at the glasses again and finally puts them on.

An adequately sized box is placed in front of him, and he is instructed to get inside. It's obvious that Oswald wants him to be a surprise. Right before the lid is placed on the box, Oswald approaches him talking in a low voice, so only he can hear him.

«Behave, please. Don't make me-»

«Look bad. I know. I know my purpose, you needn't worry.» Edward interrupts him.

Oswald looks taken aback and stared back at him for a moment longer, then nods.

«Good.»

Then the box is sealed.

Oswald's palms are sweaty and he starts to wonder if this has been a good idea. Yeah, kinda late for this kind of doubts now, but he can't help it.

He walks into the GCPD, the huge box being ushered in behind him by Gabe. All eyes are instantly on him. He immediately catches Jim's from across the room. The man stands up with an unhappy expression and stands up to walk closer.

Oswald gestures to Gabe to continue pushing the box, and he does so until Oswald and Jim meet half-way. He smiles. He wishes he wasn't feeling so nervous about this, but he is confident. Edward is a miracle of technology, anyone would be impressed, and who would say no to having a personal robot-assistant, right? Jim has to appreciate this.

«What is the meaning of this? What's in there?» Jim asks, looking and sounding wary.

«It's a gift for you, my friend.»

Jim's eyebrows shoot up and his hands move to his hips.

«A gift? For me? Why?» he asks, eyeing the box, still unconvinced.

Oswald gestures to Gabe to open it and he starts to work to do that.

«Can't a man do a nice gesture for a friend?»

The lid comes off, and Edward looks at Jim. Oswald gestures at him to come out, and so he does. Jim looks confused.

«What is this, Oswald? What's going on?»

«Oh, don't be fooled. He might look human, but he is a robot.» Oswald explains proudly, which, for some reason, really does nothing to put Jim more at ease and if anything, it appears to have made him even more nervous.

«A robot?» he asks, incredulous, looking Edward up and down.

«Introduce yourself.» Oswald orders the android, who complies.

«Hello Jim, my name is Edward. I'm here to assist you.»

Jim still looks a bit unconvinced, but at least the barely noticeable metallic tone of Edward's voice seems to have convinced him that this is in fact an android, and at least that part wasn't a prank, but Oswald can tell that Jim doesn't trust this. He must be questioning Oswald's intentions, wondering if Edward is dangerous.

«He is programmed to solve problems. That's all he does, and he will follow your every order. So you don't have to worry. He is innocuous, but very helpful.» Oswald explains.

Jim seems to relax just a little bit and he nods, looking at Oswald, then at Edward, and back. Eventually he sighs.

«Fine. I'll keep him.»

«What? Jim!?» Harvey tries to protest, but Jim seems to have made up his mind.

Oswald smiles, pleased with this outcome. For a moment he really though Jim was gonna put up a fight about this.

«Very well, then, I'll leave you to your job.»

Oswald looks at Ed one last time before leaving. He could swear that the robot looked almost sad, but he was probably mistaken. He is just a robot, after all.

Edward watches Oswald walk away, followed by Gabe, until they both disappear. He turns back to Jim and offers him a smile, figuring that he should try to appear as friendly and polite as possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This should be 4 chapters long, but i haven't finished writing all of it yet, so i cannot be 100% sure. Anyway, this was a fun experiment, i have never written an AU like this before. Hope you like it :)


	2. Chapter 2

«Why the hell did you accept?» the man wearing a hat asks Jim. He looks agitated.

«You know Oswald. He wasn't going to be happy if I refused, didn't want him to make a scene.» Jim explains with a sigh, still studying Edward.

«So, what does he even do?» the other man asks. His hands on his hips. Now he too is studying him.

Edward offers him a smile. The man looks almost startled.

«Jim I gotta say, he does look human. It's uncanny... are we sure he is a robot?»

Jim looks at the man, then back at Edward.

«I assure you I am not human. I was built in a lab.» Edward tries to reassure them.

Jim hums and slowly nods.

«I see... fine. What do you do?»

«Yeah, what do we do with him, anyway?» asks the other man.

«I'm programmed to pick up clues and solve puzzles. I hope I can be of assistance in your job.»

«Yeah, that's what Penguin said...» the man in the hat says.

«Penguin?» Edward asks.

The other two men look at him, apparently surprised.

«He means Oswald. People call him that.» Jim explains.

«Oh.»

Edward figures he should have known. He too immediately associated the man with that particular animal, he just didn't know that was a nick name he had. He really doesn't know much about Oswald, he considers. He wishes he did, but now Oswald is gone and Edward can't predict when or if he is gonna come back.

«Does he know?» he asks.

Jim looks confused for a second, but then answers.

«Yeah, he _wants_ to be called that.» he says with a light shake of the head.

Edward didn't know that either. Interesting. He starts to think that maybe he can learn more about Oswald even while being away from him.

«Jim... how can we be sure it won't explode or something? What if he is secretly a murder robot? We gotta be careful...» the other man says quietly to Jim.

«I know, Harvey. For now let's just...» Jim gesticulates vaguely in Edward's direction. Harvey sighs and nods.

Edward has been at the GCPD for three days. He has been watching Jim. He is bored. Oswald reassured him there would be plenty of work for him to do, and he supposes that's true, but it doesn't take him long to do what he is asked to. In fact, he quickly begins doing even what he hasn't been asked to do, and eventually ends up doing what he has been explicitly asked not to do.

He can't help but “snoop around”, as some have put it, “putting his nose in things that don't concern him”.

It's not his fault if their current forensics examiner is so incompetent. Seriously, how can he miss so many details? Edward believes it doesn't even take enhanced robot eyes to see certain things, the man is simply bad at his job. That's the conclusion he has reached. This is why he takes it upon himself to solve this situation. He is supposed to be useful to Jim, right? So, nobody should find anything wrong with it, if he solved this problem for them. He needs to do something about it, and he will, soon enough.

«What are you doing? I told you not to touch that-» the coroner scolds him, rudely shooing him away from the dead body lying on the metal table.

«I apologize. I simply noticed you missed-»

«Get. Out!» the man yells at him in frustration.

Edward puts down his tools and takes a step back, examining the reaction from the man. Dilated nostrils, brows knitted together. He is angry.

«Of course. I apologize for the inconvenience.»

Edward feels something different. A little... itch, in his electronic brain. That's odd, isn't it? Well, it's not a literal itch, of course, that would be preposterous, but there's no better way to explain it. It's a disturbing little itch that can only be scratched with the use of violence. Edward has never felt this before. Anger, he supposes. That's new.

He already apologized, so he leaves.

He figures there must be something else he can do at the moment to make himself useful. Such a sophisticated android that simply does nothing is not impressive, is it? But that's his purpose, to be impressive. He needs to impress Jim, so he will be grateful to Oswald for such a useful gift. Edward never forgot that.

He is still thinking about Oswald. He hasn't really stopped. There is always part of his neural circuits that's dedicated to thinking about Oswald.

He walks past the archive, then he stops. He takes a couple steps back and he peeks in.

He hasn't had a chance to take a look at it yet, but he can imagine the kind of mess it must be, considering how people tend to run this place in general. He figures he could be helpful that way, so he walks in.

As he imagined, nothing makes sense. Well, makes sense enough for him to decipher what is going on, but there are definitely better methods of cataloguing evidence and he knows all of them. All he has to do is pick one. And so, he gets to work.

«Oh... my... God...»

He hears a voice say, so he looks up, only to see a clearly distressed woman stand in the doorway.

«What did you do!?» she asks him. Loudly. She sounds upset. Edward can't conceive why she would be. First of all, isn't it obvious what he's doing? Secondly, he doing good work.

«I'm fixing your archive.»

«Fixing? You call this fixing!?» she asks, pointing at the paperwork spread across the floor.

«I'm not finished, yet.» he reassures her.

«It didn't need fixing! I liked it the way it was! This is... ugh. How am I gonna find anything, now?» she asks, dropping her shoulders and looking at the results of Edward's work on the floor, looking discouraged.

«How was anybody able to find anything before, that's the question. When I'm done, it will be much easier.» he comments.

She doesn't seem to like that reply. She might be even offended. Edward supposes she must not like criticism.

«I want you to get out of my archive. Right now.» she says.

Edward looks up at her, considering his best options for a moment, then he stands up. It appears his work isn't appreciated here, either. He quietly walks past her and then out of the room.

Edward has started following Jim around when he is at the precinct. Listening to him talk to Harvey about the cases, studying the way he works, trying to pitch in with pieces of information they might have missed. They accept those, usually, but most of the time they look annoyed that he is even there. Edward doesn't understand why. He is being helpful, that's his job, why is Jim not impressed, yet?

If he has to be completely honest, Edward isn't impressed either.

He simply doesn't see it, what Oswald finds in this man. He is supposed to be so special, but he is just some guy. He isn't even that interesting. But he is a good cop, on that Oswald was right, Edward supposes.

«I don't have eyes, but once I could see. I used to have thoughts, but now I'm white and empty, what am I?»

Jim stares at him. Harvey rolls his eyes.

«A skull! The victim's skull was cracked. From that angle, it's impossible that-»

«Thanks, Edward, we'll figure it out.» Jim cuts him off.

The corners of Edward's smile slowly drop.

«Jim, my dear friend. How is the work going?»

Edward recognizes the familiar voice and he pick his smile back up, turning around to face the man who just walked in.

«Oswald. What are you doing here?» Jim asks.

Edward doesn't like the tone Jim is using. It's too harsh and it contrasts with Oswald's cheerful tone.

«Just checking in on my... um, my robot. Is he working alright? Has he been useful?» Oswald asks, glancing only briefly at Edward.

«Uh... sure.» Jim says.

«Good!» Oswald's smile gets even bigger.

Edward observes Jim. He notices he tensed up, and he can tell from his posture he isn't happy to see Oswald. So, Jim is lying, on more than one front. He said “sure”, but he didn't mean it. Nobody even allows Edward to get close enough to be useful, since every time he tries to do something, someone stops him and yells at him. He supposes that once again, Jim is trying not to upset Oswald, by going along with everything the man says. Edward finds this kind of dishonesty irritating and confusing.

Oswald's eyes move on him and stay there for a moment, before moving elsewhere.

«If you don't mind, we are busy, so...» Jim suddenly says, exchanging looks with Harvey.

«Oh. Of course. Don't let me hold you.» Oswald says and watches them walk away until they are out of the precinct.

Once they are gone, Oswald looks at him again.

«What does Jim think? Does he ever talk about me?» he asks in a quieter voice, suddenly getting closer.

Edward stares back at him.

Oswald steps back and straightens his back, looking bashful.

«Of course, where are my manners. How have you been? How are they treating you?» he asks, putting up a small smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes.

Edward considers if he should lie too. He decides against it.

«Jim doesn't seem to mind my presence, but he isn't happy about it either. No one will let me do my job properly, so chances to impress him have been scarce. I apologize for failing at my main purpose so far, but I can assure you I will keep trying.»

Oswald's brow furrows slightly.

«What do you mean, they don't let you do your job? Just do it!»

Edward takes note of this new directive, right next to the one telling him what his “purpose” is.

«Of course. Will do.»

The first step in this has to be getting rid of the current medical examiner. It's not too hard. Once they catch him with a locker full of severed hands, he is quickly fired. Of course, the man will be left wondering how those got there, since he didn't put them there, but no one will ever believe him.

Edward smiles to himself while sawing a dead man's torso open. Until they find a replacement, the captain has agreed to let Edward to the job, and during this time, he counts on proving that he is the best at this, so they will let him keep it. He doesn't doubt himself for a moment. He knows he is the best. Finally things are going his way. He pictures how proud Oswald will be of him, how happy he will be and how grateful. He can't wait for Oswald to know what he accomplished.

He finds himself wishing Oswald was there, and hoping he will stop by again soon.

When he is done with his job, he removes his gloves and washes his hands, then he heads out, and he ends up stopping by the archive again. He hesitates before walking in, but he feels compelled to.

He enters and immediately, Kristen, who is sitting at her desk at the other end of the room, raises her head, and as soon as she sees him her shoulders drop. She doesn't look happy to see him.

«Edward.» she greets him, putting on an obviously fake smile.

He walks further into the room, looking around. He opens a drawer and looks inside. She stands up.

«You put everything back the way it was before.» he comments, barely hiding his disappointment.

«Yes. And it took me all day, so _please_ , don't touch anything.»

He looks at her, she walked around her desk and she is facing him, standing there, looking nervous.

«I was just trying to help.» he says, but she doesn't seem to like that either.

«I don't need your “help”. I can do my job.»

Edward is about to say something he knows would upset her, so he decides not to say anything.

Someone walks in behind them and she smiles. Edward turns around to face whoever it is. It's officer Dougherty. Ed ran into him a couple times, he doesn't like this man very much. He is always very rude to him.

«Is he bothering you again? Hey, tin can, how about you leave her alone?» the officer says. Rude, once again.

«Oh! No, he wasn't. Don't worry, he was just about to leave.» Kristen reassures, as Dougherty walks up to her and possessively puts his arm around her waist, staring Edward down.

Edward's internal danger sensors are sending him signals that he should operate carefully around this man, but his eyes fall on Kristen's arms and he notices some bruises around her wrists.

He frowns, focusing on the marks, examining them.

«What happened to you?»

He studies her reactions. At first she seems confused by that sudden question, then, as soon as she realizes what he is referring to, he sees clear signs of a panicked state, as she fumbles to find an answer.

«Oh, it's nothing, it's just... I, uh...»

«She fell.» Dougherty supplies, without breaking eye contact with Edward. It almost feels like a challenge. Edward looks back at Kristen and she smiles nervously and nods.

«Yeah. I'm so clumsy sometimes.» she chuckles briefly, but there's no humor in it. Edward frowns deeper.

«Miss Kringle... is officer Dougherty responsible?»

He sees her eyes go wide and her mouth open. The man's nostrils dilate and his jaw clenches. She is scared. He is furious. This isn't a good sign, Edward considers. It must mean he is right. He should fix this situation, he figures. It's not his business, but he stumbled into it, so, what else could he do?

«You shouldn't hurt the person you love.»

«Edward, please, you don't understand...» she tries to interject, but Dougherty steps forward.

«How about you mind your fucking business, tin can? What do you know about love anyway, huh!? You are a _machine_.»

«Tom, please.» Kristen once again tries to calm her boyfriend down, but Edward can read his intentions in his expression. It's violence. Danger sensors are going crazy, telling him to get out of there until he can, but Edward has a different idea. He never liked Dougherty.

«I will report you. You will go to jai-»

Before he can finish his sentence, the officer's knuckles collide with his face.

«Oh my God!» Kristen exclaims, covering her mouth with her hands. Dougherty laughs.

Edward hears a buzzing sound, kind of like static, and his left eye glitches for just a moment. He tries to articulate his jaw, but it's not responding properly for a few seconds. He touches his cheek and he finds that the fake skin has been damaged. He looks at his fingertips and sees some dark liquid on them, clearly hydraulic fluid. This isn't good, but he runs a quick diagnostic and determines the damage is not severe and mostly external. He also very quickly calculates the right amount of force needed to knock a man off his feet without killing him or hurting him too severely, squeezing his first tightly.

The man is still laughing, when out of nowhere, he is hit in the jaw and stumbles backwards, hitting the desk. Kristen screams.

Almost immediately, a couple officers rush in to assess the situation. They find officer Dougherty leaning on the desk, holding his jaw, glaring up at Edward. Kristen is standing to the side, looking scared. The officers are quick to draw conclusions and immediately draw their guns on Edward.

«Freeze!» «Put your hands up!»

Edward does this, very slowly turning around to face them, and meeting Kristen's eyes on the way.

«Officers, I was acting in self defense, Miss Kringle can testify.»

After saying this, a brief silence follows, so Edward turns to look at Kristen, wondering what she is hesitating for, but she quickly averts her eyes, looking at the two officers.

«It was just a misunderstanding.» she says, offering a reassuring smile.

«Misunderstanding? The robot fucking hit me!» Dougherty protests.

«You did hit me first.» Edward calmly corrects him, glancing back at him, gaining a scowl.

The officers lower their guns. They can see the damage on Edward's face, so at least they must believe him.

They look at each other, then exchange one more silent look with Dougherty and walk out. Edward watches this happen and he can't immediately figure out the meaning of this, until the realization hits him.

He is not a person. Nobody cares that he was hit. No one is going to be mad at Dougherty more than if he had damaged someone's typewriter or something.

«You should get going...» Kristen says.

Edward slowly nods. He looks at the officer who's smirking at him, one last time, before walking out of the room.

This is upsetting. Edward feels something different. Something else new. He feels alone.

He did something that should be considered good, and yet he wasn't rewarded for it. He was punished and then ignored. This doesn't feel right. He is pretty sure he knows the meaning of “injustice”, and he believes the definition applies – but again: he isn't a person, so who's going to care?

The answer to this arrives soon enough, when a concerned voice calls after him.

«Edward?» he turns around, recognizing that voice. Oswald is standing right there, looking at him in shock, eyes focused on the left side of his face, where the damage is.

«What happened to you? Who did this!?» the man asks, quickly walking closer.

«Jim isn't here.» Edward says.

The man looks at him like he just said something absurd.

«I know. He's out on a case.»

«What brings you here, then?» Edward asks, he is genuinely curious.

He watches the man avert his eyes for a moment.

«You didn't answer. Who did this?» Oswald asks again, focusing his eyes back on him.

Edward examines his expression. He reads genuine concern. He can't help but smile a little, he isn't sure why. Maybe he is just relieved to find out there is somebody who cares. Maybe it's because he is getting Oswald's attentions. But he tells himself Oswald must simply be upset someone hurt his robot. After all, a broken robot isn't that good of a gift, is it? His smile fades.

«Officer Tom Dougherty. He is what I believe is commonly referred to as an “asshole”.» Ed replies bitterly. Oh, bitterness. That's a new flavor too.

He sees anger take over Oswald's face, and notices he stiffens and clenches his fists by his sides. Edward waits for a reaction, which doesn't hesitate to come.

«How dare he think he can touch _my_...» Oswald stops himself. His eyes widen, he fumbles. «My, uh... I mean, Jim's...»

«Jim's android assistant.» Edward supplies.

«Sure. Yes. What happened?» Oswald asks, seeming eager to move on with the conversation.

«I accused him of hurting his girlfriend – of which he is guilty – and he reacted violently. The other officers don't seem to care. I believe he is going to go unpunished.»

_Unless_... he does something about it. But he chooses to keep this thought to himself, for now. He doesn't need to get Oswald involved. He will find a way to make officer Dougherty pay.

«Unpunished?» Oswald laughs. Edward slightly tilts his head, trying to read his intentions.

Oswald seems to notice his confusion and he quick to clarify.

«You don't have to worry about it. This officer won't bother you again, I will make sure of it.» Oswald explains with a big smile.

It's a strange smile, Edward thinks. It's not fake. It reaches his eyes too, it's genuine, but it conveys more than most smiles do. There's anger concealed behind it, Edward is almost certain. Yet, his danger receptors capture nothing. Once again, Edward finds himself thinking that Oswald must be a far more dangerous man than he looks, but luckily for him, he's never had to attest this personally. He can only imagine Dougherty will be less lucky, but in some twisted way, Edward is looking forward to this. Is this what that feels like? Desire for revenge? Getting pleasure from a man's suffering? He supposes so, and he chooses to smile back.

Oswald looks at him a little longer, before averting his eyes.

«Well, we should get you fixed. You can't be walking around like this.» he says after a moment of silence.

«I'm alright. The damage is only external, I already ran a diagnostic.»

Oswald stares at him blank faced for a moment longer, before smiling again.

«Good. That's good, but still, you should come with me, back to the lab.»

Now it's Edward's turn to stare back blankly. He guesses the man is right, so he nods, and he follows him outside.

This is the first time he's stepped into the streets of Gotham. He's never seen much of the city, aside from looking out of a window from time to time. He looks around, he can't help but study every person who walks by. There's chatter, cars running down the street, the occasional hoking in the distance. It's a bit overwhelming for a moment, until he is grounded into reality again, able once again to focus on just one thing, when Oswald's hand is on his arm, getting his attention.

Edward looks down at that hand, then at the man's face. He nods and continues following him, until they reach the car. Both sit in the back. It's a short ride, during which Edward continues to study the city through the window, then he is brought back to the lab where he was created. It feels like home, in a way. He supposes that's what a sentimental human would refer to it as, but for him, it's not as much like that, as much as it is about the familiarity of it, despite it being a dull and sterile environment, in here he knows he is safe. There are no officer Dougherties punching him in the face, no Jims or Harveys rolling their eyes at him, no Miss Kringles politely declining his help, no officers turning their heads when he is treated unfairly. In here there is only Oswald, the only person who seems to care about him. And one of the engineers of course, Oswald called her back for this occasion.

Edward smiles at her when he walks into the room, Oswald by his side.

«Hello.»

«Hello, Edward. Please, come sit here, it will take just a few minutes.»

She isn't lying. From the moment he sits down and she starts working, to the moment she steps back and admires her completed work, it takes about twenty minutes. All along, Oswald has been standing around at first, then sitting after grabbing a chair, but regardless, keeping his eyes fixated on him while the engineer worked on his face, mending the synthetic skin and adjusting ducts behind his jaw.

He is asked to move it a little for her, and he does without difficulties. She smiles. Edward looks back at Oswald and finds that he is still looking, but now he is smiling a bit.

«Well, we are done here.» she says.

«Thank you.»

«Yes, thank you. You are free to go, now.» Oswald says, and the woman quickly leaves the room. Edward watches her walk away, then looks back at Oswald. He finds that he has been watching him again. He wonders what the deal with his behavior is.

«How has life been at the precinct?» Oswald asks.

«You asked this before.» Edward says, before recollecting he actually has news for Oswald, so he smiles excitedly, and the man looks surprised but interested, «I am the new medical examiner. The old one was fired, so I got the job. It's supposed to be a momentary position until they find a better replacement, but they won't.» Edward confidently says.

Oswald chuckles and nods. Edward wonders about this reaction too. He expected him to be pleased about this news, sure, but he expected more of a smirk and a pat on the back than this. This is different. Like Oswald is not simply pleased to hear this because it benefits him, but like he is happy for Edward because Edward himself sounds excited about this. Maybe his readings are off. Maybe he is reading too much into subtle micro-expressions. Maybe he is reading what he wants to read into them.

«Well, I think it's time I get back to my job. They might not miss me, but they will miss their medical examiner.» Edward says, standing up. Oswald follows him right away.

«Right. Back to work.»

Oswald escorts him to the car and instructs the driver to take Edward back to the GCPD. Before closing the door, Edward has a thought he needs to voice.

«About officer Dougherty...»

«Don't worry about it, leave it to me. You won't have to worry about him anymore.» Oswald reassures him with a smile.

Edward hesitates, but smiles back with a small nod, before closing the door and letting the driver know they can go now.

He can't be entirely sure what Oswald is planning to do, but whatever it's going to be, he feel thrilled at the simple thought that Oswald is going to do that for him. It's probably silly to feel this way, but Edward can't help himself. He feels happy.


	3. Chapter 3

Oswald walked into the room.

«Eye response is good.» said one of the engineers, who was yet to notice his presence.

He walked closer, observing the incomplete robot hanging on a metal stand. He wasn't doing anything, besides blinking. He was just a human-like upper body, arms hanging limp by his sides. The lower part of his body was laying on a table a few feet away. The pale white neon lights reflected on his metallic surface. Oswald was growing impatient.

«So, how is it coming along?» he asked.

«It will be ready in a matter of days, Mr Cobblepot. We just need to run all the necessary tests.»

Oswald stopped walking once he was in front of the robot. He watched him and then grinned.

«Can it move?»

«We haven't conducted the final test on that yet, but everything should be in working order.»

Oswald didn't like that answer. He had been waiting for weeks, why couldn't this be done, already?

«Well, do that, then. Can it talk, yet?» he asked, irritatedly.

«Yes, just a second.» said the engineer, walking around the robot and doing something to it, before speaking again, «It should be good now. Try talking to him.»

«Can you hear me? Hello, Edward.» he said, after a moment of hesitation.

«Edward...?» the slightly metallic voice came from the robot. Surprisingly enough, it actually had some inflection and it sounded confused, maybe curious.

«That's your name.» Oswald replied.

«What is your name?» the robot asked.

He was surprised for a moment, but he answered anyway.

«I'm Oswald Cobblepot.»

«Hello, Oswald.»

This was going to work phenomenally, he'd never been more sure. He smiled.

«How long is this going to take?» Oswald asked, walking into the same room again for who knows how many days in a row.

Edward's head turned to face him. Good, Oswald thought, he had some mobility then. The sight was still a bit jarring. Now his legs were connected to the torso through a series of wires and tubes, but they weren't completely attached to his body yet. He wondered how long it would take before he would get to see him all in one piece. He could bet it was going to be a breathtaking sight. This was truly a miracle of technology, after all.

To his surprise, Edward suddenly spoke.

«What is black and white, but is not a newspaper? Has wings but is not an airplane?»

Oswald looked at the engineers, waiting for any type of explanation for what's going on, but when that was late to arrive, he just asked.

«Is that a riddle?»

Then, Edward continued, despite the fact that nobody was really paying attention to him.

«Do you need more clues? What lays eggs but is not a chicken? Eats fish but isn't a whale?»

Oswald looked at him, then back at his employees, but once again they avoided his gaze, so he returned to the robot, wondering what he might mean. What was that first part, what did he say? What's black and white...? He genuinely had no idea what the machine was talking about.

«I don't... I don't know, what-... what is it?»

«A penguin.»

This was a surprise. A robot who likes riddles. It wasn't what Oswald asked for, it wasn't what he wanted, or what he needed. And yet... there was something endearing about it.

«He is... he is glitching again, I'm sorry, Mr Cobblepot, we'll get on it right away.» one of the engineers said.

Oswald found himself wondering if that was such a bad thing. A glitch. It was sure to become annoying at some point, he was certain, and yet... he took one last look at the robot before leaving again, while he considered this.

Maybe the fact that Edward had his own personality wasn't such a bad thing. It made him more interesting.

Oswald had taken Edward's request seriously. Since the robot seemed to enjoy puzzles so much, he wanted to please him, or maybe just to test him. Who knows. Either way, he had gone out of his way to find him a puzzle that he believed might be hard enough to be a challenge for him.

It was fun to see how the robot reacted to things. In some ways, he was a bit like a child, since everything was new to him, and Oswald found it fun to fuel that just to sit back and admire it.

«Hello, Oswald.» Edward greeted him from his seat at the table. The engineers were both too busy to pay attention at the moment.

«Hi, Edward.» he greeted back with a smile. He was proud of what he'd found and he couldn't wait to show it to Edward.

He took the small box in his hands and placed it on the table in front of the robot for him to solve.

«It's the hardest puzzle I could find. The man at the store said it took some people weeks at end to-»

He watched Edward take the box, study it for a few seconds and then in a few well calculated moves, unravel the puzzle, letting it fall apart on the table, before he was even finished with his sentence. He was speechless for a moment, and so were the engineers.

«Wha- wow, how...» he fumbled for a moment, before regaining himself and smiling, «Well, I suppose that makes sense. You aren't human, after all.»

He supposed the man at the store didn't have a super intelligent robot in mind when he described the level of difficulty.

«Thank you for the puzzle.» said Edward, looking up at him.

The surface of his body was shiny, polished metal, and his mouth moved mechanically when he spoke, while his eyes were ever faintly glowing, and yet, for a moment, Oswald lost his ability to speak, too taken aback by his general appearance. He wondered if it was really necessary to make him this pretty. He cursed himself for thinking this. That was stupid. This is just a machine, come on, Oswald, keep it together. Remember Jim? He is a human person.

«N-no problem.»

Oswald knew that now, in the last stages, progress would be made much more quickly, and he fully expected his robot to be ready by now, and yet, he wasn't prepared for what he saw when he walked in that day.

He almost didn't recognize him at first. This man was standing there, wearing suit pants, a shirt and a sweater over it, he had brown hair and brown eyes. It took his brain just a moment longer to register that it was Edward. He hesitated, but then excitedly walked closer. The android noticed and turned towards him, letting himself be admired. Oswald observed him from up close, now noticing even the smallest details. Like the creases and texture and small details in his skin. It was breathtaking. He couldn't help himself but reach out. Edward let him, and he gently stroked his cheek, focusing on how it felt to the touch. It felt so natural, it almost sent a shiver down his spine.

He let out a gasp, before retracting his hand.

«This is incredible. He looks so human!» he said to his employees, but unable to look away from the android's face.

«Do I really look human?» Edward asked.

Oswald was surprised by that, so he stared at him for a moment longer, but eventually nodded with a small smile.

Right then, the other engineer returned, carrying a small mirror, positioning it so that Edward could see himself.

Oswald wasn't expecting this, but he said nothing and just watched intently. He was curious about what Edward's reaction would be.

He watched Edward reach for his own face, touching his cheek and gently pressing his fingers into the skin. He watched in amusement as the robot opened then closed his mouth, then slowly closed and opened his eyes. Then squinted, then raised each eyebrows separately, then once again together. Lastly, he watched him stick out his tongue for a moment, in a silly expression, before closing his mouth. Oswald held back a chuckle.

«What do you think?» he asked, considering the other had had enough time to examine his own face, and really interested in hearing his opinion on it. This was a very sophisticated AI, he had to give it to the engineers, which meant hearing what he had to say was always interesting.

«I am virtually indistinguishable from a human.» he briefly paused, turning to face him «If you didn't know I was an android, you wouldn't think twice about it.»

Oswald smirked.

«This is by design. I want Jim to feel comfortable around you, since you'll be his personal assistant. He needs to be able to trust you and rely on you. That's easier to do if you look like this, instead of looking like Terminator.»

Edward stared at him for a moment, before looking back into the mirror. Oswald shot the two engineers a look and they both immediately got the message. The one holding the mirror placed it on the nearby table before following the other and they both walked away. Once they were alone, Oswald turned to Edward again, studying his appearance in more detail. He wanted some privacy, since he wanted to exchange a few words with Edward, but also, since nobody else was there to judge him, he let himself reach out again and he satiated his curiosity. He had to know what his hair felt like.

So he reached out and he gently passed his fingers through his hair. The other didn't flinch, or lean into it, he just stood still, watching him with his usual curious expression. He was right, he thought.

«So soft... just like real hair.» it was, just like he imagined, «Jim's gotta like this.»

He looked just like a human. And yet, he was actually an extremely sophisticated, highly intelligent, android. His appearance shouldn't have been the most impressive thing about him, and yet, it came close. It was the attention to details that made the difference, Oswald liked to think. And Jim would have to appreciate that.

«Can you tell me more about Jim?»

Oswald was surprised by that question. He felt flustered for a moment, before regaining composure.

«Yes, of course. I was about to, anyway. You need to know more if I want you to be effective...»

«Effective?»

«Yes. I'm trying to impress him. And you are, well, you are already impressive, but I want you to know what you are dealing with.»

Out of nowhere, Edward reached out, placing his palm on his chest. Oswald was too caught off guard to react, mainly perplexed by this action, but he eventually pushed the hand away, glaring in confusion at the other.

«What are you doing?»

«Checking your vitals. As I suspected, you heart rate increased.»

His eyes went wide and he felt his cheeks get flushed, without having any control over this. He mouthed wordlessly, searching for what to say. He didn't like where this was going. He was the human here, he was the one who made Edward's existence possible, he should have been the one in charge. He didn't like the liberties Edward was taking, and especially he didn't like feeling so exposed, even if the person exposing him wasn't even human.

«I don't know what you are trying to insinuate, but-»

«Accelerated heartbeat, dilated pupils, blushing, all signs that indicate strong emotion. In particular, that you like the person you are talking about.»

He scowled at him, forming the string of possible insults he could have directed at him, and thinking that if this had been any other person, any human, he wouldn't have hesitated to punish him for his insolence. He would have told him to mind his own business, for starters. But Edward was different, and therefore, Oswald's reaction to his behavior was consequently different too. He sighed and then let himself smile. They were alone. He could say how he felt.

«Alright, fine. Yeah, I do like him, that's what the gift is for.» he finally admitted, averting his eyes.

«You are hoping he will reciprocate your feelings in exchange for something of material value? All the information in my database suggests-»

Now Edward was starting to get on his nerves. He didn't need a robot to start questioning his actions, thank you, so he interrupted him before he could finish the thought.

«I don't care what your database suggests, just shut up.»

«I apologize. Maybe it's not my place to comment on your romantic life. I was merely trying to help.»

Oswald continued glaring at him, waiting for any follow up on that, but apparently that was that, Edward was going to respect his wishes and drop the subject. He felt relieved.

«Sure. Well, anyway, Jim is... he is a friend. We don't always agree on everything... actually, well... we almost never agree. We have different methods to deal with things. He is one of the few actually good cops in this city, he likes to do things by the rules, and I... well, I do to, we simply follow a different set of rules.»

He saw Edward's brow furrow ever so slightly.

«If you don't get along, why do you like him so much?»

He wasn't expecting that question, he was once again caught off guard and he was starting to get tired of this, or annoyed at least. He tensed up, trying to think of what to say, but then he gave up, realizing he wasn't obligated to explain his complex feelings to a robot.

«He's just-... just... it's my business why I like him, okay? We have history, you wouldn't understand.»

He saw the other tilt his head to the side. That couldn't be a good sign, but before he could finish formulating this thought, he was proven right.

«I would like to understand. Am I supposed to act as, what is commonly known as, a “wingman”?»

At those words, his eyes went wide and he felt his face flush even more, overtaken by embarrassment, and subsequently by anger.

«No! What the-... you just do your job! Whatever Jim asks you to do, you do. You... just stay put, and do as you are told.»

«I must apologize again.»

Oswald stared at him, studying the his expression, but it was unreadable. He couldn't tell if the other was fucking with him or if he was serious, but given any lack of proof one way or the other, he was forced to take his apology at face value. He took a few deep breaths and he tried to calm down, telling himself that starting to yell at a robot wouldn't do him any good.

«It's fine. Just, don't get ideas.»

Suddenly, something he couldn't have foreseen happened. Edward smiled. Oswald was so surprised, he couldn't help but stare. His eyes fell on his lips, but that was awkward, even if he was a robot, wasn't it? So he looked back up, meeting his eyes – which appeared involved in the smile, so it looked like a genuine one – but that was somehow worse. He just decided to look away, for his own sake, before he further made a fool of himself in front of a goddamned robot.

«Anyway... don't make me look bad, alright? All you were made for was impress Jim, make him grateful to me for the gift. That's your only purpose.»

That's the last thing he said, before walking out. He really had to wonder what had gotten into him, to react like that to seeing Edward smile.

To be fair, he had never seen a robot smile before. He wouldn't have never imagined it would look like that.

«Jim, my dear friend. How is the work going?» Oswald asked, walking towards the group of three people – well, two people and a robot – after walking into the precinct like he had any business being there.

«Oswald. What are you doing here?» was Jim's cold response. Oswald tried not to pay mind to it. He maintained his cheerful attitude and he presented a big smile.

«Just checking in on my... um, my robot. Is he working alright? Has he been useful?» he asked, briefly glancing at Edward, and thinking he caught a glimpse of his smile quickly fading away, but he couldn't be certain.

«Uh... sure.»

«Good!»

Jim averted his gaze, exchanging a quick look with Harvey, before gesturing vaguely and speaking.

«If you don't mind, we are busy, so...»

«Oh. Of course. Don't let me hold you.» Oswald raised his hands apologetically and moved out of the way, watching the two detectives walk away.

When the two were out of sight, he walked closer to Edward, whispering so nobody else could eavesdrop.

«What does Jim think? Does he ever talk about me?»

The robot stared back blankly, not really responding for a few long seconds, so Oswald started to feel awkward. He took a step back, putting some distance between them again, he straightened his back and he cleared his voice, forcing a polite smile.

«Of course, where are my manners. How have you been? How are they treating you?»

Finally, Edward responded. Oswald tried to imagine what could be going on in his head, but he simply couldn't figure it out.

«Jim doesn't seem to mind my presence, but he isn't happy about it either. No one will let me do my job properly, so chances to impress him have been scarce. I apologize for failing at my main purpose so far, but I can assure you I will keep trying.»

Oswald frowned slightly. He didn't like the sound of that.

«What do you mean, they don't let you do your job? Just do it!»

He saw Edward stare at him blankly for a couple seconds. He wondered where he had gone, as if he had momentarily retreated inside his head, but then the other spoke again.

«Of course. Will do.»

Oswald's plan, admittedly, wasn't going as well as he'd hoped, so far. He had hoped Jim would be impressed the moment he'd laid eyes on Edward, then he'd hoped Edward would reveal himself to be so useful that Jim couldn't avoid being thankful to Oswald for the gift. But neither of these things had happened.

Instead, Oswald found himself feeling more lonely than before. Not only was Jim acting cold and uninterested, but he had gotten used to visiting Edward every day down in the lab, to check on the progress, so now that he was gone, he missed that.

He could admit this, at least to himself. He had to be honest. He wanted to visit the precinct more often, but he couldn't be there all the time, or he would freak Jim out, which wasn't something he wanted to do, regardless of the real reason for his visit. The real reason? Well... he wanted to see Jim, of course. He always missed Jim... he supposed. Well, that used to be true. He spent to long trying to get Jim to notice him, to accept his friendship, but everything he'd ever done had only backfired on him.

This one was just the last one in a long line of failures on this front, so, he told himself, he shouldn't be surprised.

Besides, now his thoughts were often occupied by someone else. Which was ridiculous, because this someone wasn't even human. Oswald had to wonder if robots were capable of feelings. Edward was such an advanced AI, it wasn't a stretch, right? He had seen him display emotions before, after all.

Of course all of this was just talk. It was easy to fantasize about something so silly... because it was so outside of the realm of possibility, there was no way Oswald could get invested, right? It was just a little distraction from the melancholy of being rejected by Jim Gordon, over and over again.

Alright, that was it. He was going to go to the precinct, fuck whatever Jim might think about him. He had some free time, anyway.

As soon as he got there he asked for Jim, but he was informed that the detective was currently out somewhere. He would have lied if he'd said he wasn't disappointed, but at the same time he was almost relieved. He had plausible deniability. Jim wasn't going to see him standing around, pining pathetically – without specifying who he was pining for, anyway.

He decided to lurk around, until, suddenly, he ran into exactly who he was looking for, except, what he saw wasn't what he was expecting at all. He remembered his perfect face, it was in pristine condition last time he had seen it. So it was a shock to see it in that state.

«Edward?» he called after him, following down a hallway.

The robot turned around immediately, giving Oswald an even better visual of his face. He stared, he couldn't help himself. It pained him to see him like that, and he started to feel anger surging.

«What happened to you? Who did this!?» he asked, rushing closer.

Edward stared at him with an almost blank expression.

«Jim isn't here.»

Oswald couldn't get the connection between his question and that answer and the confusion was apparent in his expression.

«I know. He's out on a case.»

«What brings you here, then?» Edward asked.

Oswald was getting irritated with the robot's attempts to derail the conversation. He asked something and he wanted to know. Now.

«You didn't answer. Who did this?»

He saw Edward's lips form a smile, but then just as quickly it disappeared. He wondered why, but at least now the other finally answered his question.

«Officer Tom Dougherty. He is what I believe is commonly referred to as an “asshole”.»

Oswald took note of a certain hint of bitterness in the robot's voice, which would have surprised him, if he hadn't been too busy growing increasingly more furious with each passing moment.

«How dare he think he can touch _my_...» he stopped himself. His robot? He wasn't even his anymore, he gave him up to Jim, remember? So, he had to find something else to say, «My, uh... I mean, Jim's...» he trailed off, unsure how to continue. He'd already made this awkward, it was too late to save it now. At least, awkward for him. He wasn't sure the robot had caught this nuance, and if not, he was grateful for it.

«Jim's android assistant.» Edward helpfully supplied.

«Sure. Yes. What happened?»

«I accused him of hurting his girlfriend – of which he is guilty – and he reacted violently. The other officers don't seem to care. I believe he is going to go unpunished.»

«Unpunished?»

Oswald laughed at that. A genuine response to something so factually incorrect to the point of being ridiculous. Maybe Edward was right, and the police wasn't willing to do anything about this, but anyone would have been a fool to believe that Oswald would let this slide so easily.

He looked at Edward's face, at the damage that brute caused, and he felt his blood boil with rage. But he also noticed the curiosity on the other's face, made even more obvious by his subtle head tilt. Oswald refused to acknowledge how adorable he found that, and he chose to focus instead on clarifying his meaning.

«You don't have to worry about it. This officer won't bother you again, I will make sure of it.» he reassured him with a big smile, which only barely hid his fury.

After a brief pause, the other smiled back, and Oswald found himself having to avert his gaze, to avoid staring again. Damned those engineer for deciding to make him so cute, and damned himself for ever asking to make him look human.

«Well, we should get you fixed. You can't be walking around like this.» he said after a moment, trying to move on with the conversation, and still sincerely worried about him.

«I'm alright. The damage is only external, I already ran a diagnostic.» Oswald stared blankly for a moment. Of course he already ran a diagnostic, he thought, and he couldn't help but smile a bit to himself. Stupid perfect robot. But at least he was relieved to hear he was fine. If he said so, he believed him.

«Good. That's good, but still, you should come with me, back to the lab.»

So they went back. They were silent during the whole ride. Oswald tried his best not to stare, but he barely managed. Even if he hadn't found him so beautiful, his eyes would still had been drawn to the damage on his cheekbone. It was odd, not nearly as gruesome as a wound on a human, but it still wasn't a good sight, although it made him curious.

He had called back the engineer who had worked on Edward and he watched impatiently while she fixed his face. Luckily, she confirmed it wasn't anything too bad. It didn't even take that long, but this didn't help him. It still felt like an eternity, until finally Edward's perfect face was restored. He couldn't help but smile a bit.

«Well, we are done here.» the engineer said.

«Thank you.» Edward politely said. Oswald was already getting impatient again. While he appreciated her work, he paid her for it, so he didn't feel inclined to thank her, or anyone, but he still did, sort of reflexively.

«Yes, thank you. You are free to go, now.»

She got awkward all of sudden, looked down, gave a small polite smile back to Edward, then quickly left. Oswald paid no attention to her. His eyes were still focused on him. Then, Edward's eyes were back on him too, and now, finally alone again, Oswald decided to speak.

«How has life been at the precinct?» he asked.

«You asked this before.» Edward pointed out. Oswald supposed that was true, but this time he actually wanted to know. He didn't know how to convey this difference, and things were about to get awkward, but then, suddenly, Edward's expression lit up and the robot smiled brightly, leading Oswald to smile a little too by reflex, even if he felt uncertain about this, but he was definitely curious. Edward explained.

«I am the new medical examiner. The old one was fired, so I got the job. It's supposed to be a momentary position until they find a better replacement, but they won't.»

Edward sounded so confident. Oswald nodded and he couldn't help but let out a chuckle. Seeing the other happy made him feel inexplicably happy too. Maybe, he considered, he was wrong about him. He clearly could display emotions, so he must feel them too. And if he can feel happiness and excitement, maybe... just maybe, he can feel deeper feelings too. Maybe even for him.

«Well, I think it's time I get back to my job. They might not miss me, but they will miss their medical examiner.» Edward suddenly said, standing up. Oswald reflexively did the same thing.

«Right. Back to work.»

Oswald accompanied Edward back to the car, instructing the driver to get him back to the GCPD. Right before closing the door, Edward paused and looked up at him.

«About officer Dougherty...» he begun, but trailed off. Oswald offered him a reassuring smile.

«Don't worry about it, leave it to me. You won't have to worry about him anymore.»

He closed the door and waved goodbye. As soon as the car was far enough, his smile dropped and he picked up his anger right where he had left it.

He thought it was time this officer would learn what happens to those who upset the Penguin, and, unfortunately for him, Dougherty had upset him quite a great deal.

It hasn't taken him long to collect information about this man. He waits for him to come home, and when he does, he is right there. When the door opens and the lights come on, Dougherty looks surprised to see Oswald sitting in his armchair, legs crossed.

«What the hell are you doing in my house?» the officer asks. Oswald chuckles.

Dougherty doesn't have the time to register what's going on, because before he's finished speaking, two of Oswald's henchmen have already subdued him, forcing him on his knees and keeping his arms trapped in a hold.

Oswald takes a knife out of his pocket and starts playing with it.

«What the- Let go of me! I'm a police officer! I'll get you all thrown in jail, you won't see the light of day ever again!» Dougherty yells at them, trying to pull away to get himself free, but failing.

«You won't be doing any of that. Now, do you have any idea why you find your self in this unfortunate situation?» Oswald asks, locking eyes with him while still playing with the knife.

The man grunts, but then finally stops fighting and decides to answer.

«No. What do you want from me?»

Oswald smiles and nods. He uncrosses his legs and leans forward, gripping the handle of the knife tighter.

«Are you entirely sure? You can't even imagine it?» he asks, with just a hint of mockery in his voice. He actually hopes the man knows what he's done, otherwise he will have to explain it to him. To let him know why this is happening, you know, just as a courtesy.

«I know who you are, Penguin. What is this about?»

Oswald shakes his head, showing disappointment, and leans back, studying the man for a moment in silence.

«You know, I really thought you would be the one to tell me what you did wrong, and I was hoping you would be the bigger man and apologize. But fine. I can be that and tell you.» he says, standing up. He can see the officer tense up and subtly try to pull away, nervously eyeing the knife.

Oswald acts as if he's only now noticed the knife in his hand, looking surprised at it and smiling, gesticulating with it in a dismissive manner.

«Oh, don't mind this. Yet.» he says, walking closer, «Let me refresh your memory for you. This morning there was a little accident, and Edward got hurt.»

«This is about the robot?!» Dougherty looks incredulous, and possibly even more pissed off to find out all of this is happening because of what, for him, is just a piece of metal with legs. Oswald notices his tone and doesn't like it, he snarls at it.

«Edward got damaged. I wonder how that happened.» Oswald says, staring down at the man, waiting for his response.

«I don't know what you want me to tell you.»

«Let's start with the truth, shall we? A bit of honesty can go a long way.» Oswald smiles again, a fake smile, obviously, barely concealing his growing anger towards this man. He remembers what Edward said and he thinks to himself that he was right, this man really is an asshole.

«...Fine. I hit the goddamn thing, so what? It was bothering me, and my girlfriend. That thing is a freak, it's not even human and he thinks he can get into people's business! He got what he deserved.»

Oswald starts to think that, besides being an asshole, Dougherty isn't very smart either. If he were, he'd know that that was the wrong thing to say, and it would appear clear to him that he is only digging his grave deeper.

«The business... of beating up one's girlfriend?» he asks, watching the man's eyes go wide, «Sshh, don't try to deny it, I know. See, Edward told me everything there is to know about you. Enough to let me know there's nothing salvageable. A crooked cop, girlfriend beater, overall asshole. And you hurt Edward.»

«Listen, I'm sorry about the robot, okay? I didn't think you'd care, it's Jim's robot, anyway!» Dougherty says, in an attempt to save himself, probably, but, oh, what an half-assed attempt it was. Oswald starts to think this man isn't even trying, it's like he wants to die.

«You didn't think I'd care... or you didn't think you'd have reason to be afraid of me? Because there's a huge difference, officer.» he says, stepping even closer and placing the blade under the man's chin, forcing him to look up, watching him swallow nervously. He patiently waits for an answer.

«I... I didn't mean any disrespect, I just, I- wait! Wait, wait, please!» the man can feel the blade press harder against his skin, just enough to feel it, but not enough to actually cut him.

«You meant no disrespect? I think you don't respect me at all. Which is pretty stupid of you, since you said you know who I am, or did you lie, officer Dougherty?»

Now Oswald is just enjoying the feeling of control. His two henchmen must have noticed this and they exchange a look, but don't say anything. They don't want to be next.

«No, I swear! I swear, Penguin, I mean it! I- I can be useful to you!»

Oswald laughs. He throws his head back and just laughs. Dougherty isn't sure what's going on. The two henchmen aren't sure if they should laugh too, or what, but they don't. Oswald looks back down at him with a raised eyebrow.

«Useful? I don't need you, the GCPD is full to the brim of crooked cops, I can have any of them. I don't need _you_.» he pours all of his antipathy and disgust for this man into that last word, and he can tell the other has perceived it, because he is sweating. He is afraid, as he should be.

«Well, this has gone on for long enough, I have other things to do.» Oswald says, taking a step back. He sees the officer relax just slightly. Oh, that little spark of hope that he will make it out of here alive... how Oswald will love to rip it right out of him in just a second.

The next moment, the knife is planted in Dougherty's stomach. The man gasps in pain and surprise, whining and grunting when Oswald slowly twists the blade, making a pouty face at him to mock him.

He reaches for the man's cheek, gently cupping his face, then he stretches his lips into an apologetic smile and he rudely pats his face.

«You hurt _my_ robot.» he says, and as he does, he pulls out the blade and he stabs him again.

Dougherty coughs up some blood and curses under his breath.

Oswald grabs the man's tie and uses it to clean his knife, before standing up. The henchmen stand still, waiting for instructions. Oswald puts the knife away, then straightens his jacket and he looks down at the officer. His head is hanging weakly. If he isn't dead, he will be soon.

«Clean everything up. Leave no signs we were ever here.» he says, nodding towards the blood on the floor.

«Yes, sir.»

Oswald leans down and rudely grabs Dougherty's face with his fingers, squishing his cheeks. The officer's eyes can barely stay open, let alone focus on him. Oswald smiles.

Now Edward has one less thing to worry about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the sudden change from past to present tense, i hope it's not too jarring?? I wanted to include this flashback to show Oswald's side of the story :)
> 
> RIP Dougherty, you most definitely won't be missed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof it took me longer to write this one, sorry! But as you will see, this chapter is much longer too.

Edward had come back from the lab, gaining a look of disdain from officer Dougherty when he had ran into him later that day, once the man had noticed his face had already been fixed. Dougherty's was still swollen and bruised. After walking past him, once the other couldn't see him anymore, Edward had smiled to himself.

It's been two days since that accident, and he hasn't seen Dougherty yet, not that he's complaining about this. In fact, with each passing day he has a growing suspicion that he will never see him again at all, and that thought makes him smile. Well, really, it makes him feel relieved, what really makes him smile, is the fact that he knows Oswald did something. Not even Edward knows what, but he can only imagine. Regardless, Oswald kept his word and solved an unpleasant situation for him, so he is grateful. If he had a stomach, now would probably be the moment to start feeling butterflies fluttering in there.

Chance wants that he would run into Kristen while thinking about this.

«Hi, um...» she begins, doing a double take when she notices his face if perfectly fine. They haven't interacted since the incident, mainly because, as he suspects, she's been avoiding him, so she hadn't had a chance to notice yet.

«What?»

«Your face...» she pauses, shaking her head, «I'm glad to see you are fine. Anyway, um, have you... have you seen Tom? Anywhere?»

There it is. Edward was expecting her to ask.

«No.» he doesn't even need to lie. He hasn't seen him.

«Oh... okay.» she looks away, towards the floor, fidgeting with her hands.

«Is something wrong?» he asks, as if he doesn't know exactly what's wrong.

«It's, uh... it's probably nothing. It's just, I haven't seen Tom in two days, since...» she trails off, unwilling to mention the incident at all, he supposes, «Well, he isn't home and he isn't answering the phone, so... I'm a little bit worried... that something happened to him...»

«Would that be that bad?» he says before realizing his mistake.

By the way she looks at him, it's not only clear that she didn't like that remark, but that she's formulating a theory that he might be involved, if she didn't believe so already.

«I mean, what if he left? Would that be such a bad thing? You are better off without him, you deserve better.»

He sees tears start to form in the corners of her eyes, but she blinks and looks away. When she looks at him again, her eyes are clean and she offers him a small smile.

«I should... I should get going now...» she excuses her-self and quickly walks away, hiding back in her archive.

Edward watches her leave and he ponders about this situation. Maybe she suspects him of something, but for the time being, she isn't going to say anything, so, he chooses to let this go for now.

Later that day, during lunch break, Edward is the only one still working, since he doesn't need food.

Well, “working” isn't what anyone else would define what he is doing, probably. He is using this time during which no one will bother him, to try something out and test a theory. He is always curious to learn new things, after all, he doesn't have knowledge of everything. Specifically, he's decided to test how much strength is actually required to smash a watermelon open. In reality, he wanted to do this with human skulls, but he isn't allowed to do what he is doing right now with the bodies that are brought in there, not if he wants to keep his job, so, watermelons with their thick skin are the next closest approximation.

He supposes it must be quite the sight, to walk in on him happily smashing watermelons with a hammer, because Kristen freezes on the doorway.

«Oh my... what are you doing?» she asks, bringing a hand to her chest.

Edward pauses, hammer still in the air for a moment, before putting it down and removing his safety goggles.

«What does it look like?» he asks.

«...I'm not sure you want me to answer that. If a human were doing this, I would say he's gone insane.» she comments, clutching her hands in her lap, clearly made nervous by the situation, but still letting a bit of humor slip into her tone.

«Good thing I'm not human, then.» he replies after studying her in silence for a moment, but not long enough to make the silence uncomfortable, or at least he hopes.

She exhales and give him a little smile. She doesn't say anything, though, so, after waiting a few seconds, Edward decides to push her.

«Did you want something?» he asks, and she looks caught off guard, as if she's only now remembered why she is there. Good thing, because Edward really wants to know too at this point.

«Oh, um, yes. I was going to buy lunch, and I was wondering if... you wanted to accompany me?»

Edward stared at her and he could tell she was already regretting saying that. He was about to comment that he doesn't eat, so he doesn't do lunch breaks, and besides, he's very busy, if it wasn't clear by the juice splattered all over the table, but then decides against it. He can tell she is feeling awkward. It must have costed her a lot to come here and ask him this, and he appreciates her trying to be nice, so he figures, why not accept?

«Sure.» he says, then looks at himself and at the mess he's made, «Watermelon?» he offers, picking up a piece.

Kristen laughs. Edward detects no pretense or nervousness, if anything, she actually seems to have relaxed more, now. He smiles back.

So, they two of them leave the GCPD and walk to a restaurant so Kristen can buy herself a sandwich. On the way back, she is eating it, and Edward watches her. He notices she is wearing longer sleeves, but he catches a glimpse of her wrist and he can see the bruises are still there, even if they are fading.

He finds himself thinking about Dougherty again. He is curious, he would like to ask, but he doesn't want to make her too uncomfortable. So his mind moves to trying to picture what exactly happened to the officer and where he might be now. The picture of his corpse decomposing in a ditch somewhere appears in his mind and he admits that's what he hopes is the truth. He wonders if Oswald really has killed him, and if so, how he did it. Picturing Oswald murdering that man in different ways makes him smile.

Kristen notices him smiling to himself and gives him a curious look, but he forces himself to get serious again and everts his eyes.

When they walk back into the precinct, Edward immediately spots a familiar figure.

«What do you mean you don't know where he is?»

«I'm not his baby-sitter, Oswald.»

«I gave him to you, you are responsible-» Oswald interrupts himself when Jim points at the entrance, and so he turns around and his face lits up when he sees Edward.

Jim takes advantage of the man's distraction to slip away, removing himself from a conversation he didn't want to be part of to begin with.

Edward sees Oswald frown, but he isn't sure why. He and Kristen walk closer. She is still holding part of her sandwich, and she looks a bit awkward now, as if Oswald's gaze is weighting on her, and she quickly excuses herself and leaves.

Oswald's face lits up again, once she is gone, as he looks at Edward's face.

Edward looks around, and sees that most officers are back at their desks, including Jim who is still glancing in their direction every once in a while, undoubtedly keeping an eye on them. So he decides it's better if they go somewhere quieter to discuss what he wants to discuss.

He grabs Oswald's arm. The other looks surprised, but he lets himself be pulled and follows. They walk back into the morgue. Nobody is there, nobody who can listen or talk, anyway, so it's the perfect place. Oswald looks around, frowning when his eyes fall on the mess of chunks of watermelon still laying on the table.

«What-»

«Don't mind the watermelon.» Edward interrupts him, understanding the other's thoughts, but wanting to keep the conversation on track, «What did you do?» he asks.

Oswald looks back at him and he appears confused for a moment, then he catches up, Edward can see it in his eyes. The man smiles proudly.

«I took care of your problem for you. You're welcome.»

«Yes, thank you. But how did you do about that, exactly?»

Oswald looks taken aback by that question. He almost looks offended for a moment, but then smiles nervously.

«Why, I... Is there a problem?» he asks as his expression turns into one of concern.

Edward shakes his head.

«No... I suppose I'm just curious.»

«Oh. Well... in that case...» Oswald smiles again, «I stabbed him. Twice.» he announces proudly, and yet quietly, just in case.

«So he is dead, as I thought.» Edward ponders, «You got rid of all the evidence, I hope.»

Oswald frowns a little, almost annoyed by that remark.

«Who do you think you're talking to? Of course I did... Ed is something wrong?»

Edward takes note of the usage of an abbreviated version of his name. Nobody has ever called him that before. He chooses to focus on the more important matter.

«No. I'm just being cautious.» he doesn't want to reveal that Kristen suspects something, he wouldn't want to put the woman in danger.

«There's no need. I know what I'm doing. I'm the Penguin, this is what I do.»

Edward studies his expression and realizes the other is serious. He decides to relax about this and let it go. He trusts Oswald did a good job.

«Of course. I apologize.»

There's a moment of silence, where both just look at each other, probably both unsure what to say, or at least that's Edward's excuse. He sees Oswald's eyes move to the side, so Edward follows them and he is reminded about his previous activity. When he looks back, Oswald is giving him a curious look with a raise eyebrow.

Edward takes a piece of fruit and hands it to him.

«Watermelon?» he asks.

The other is visibly trying to hold back laughter, then shakes his head, but reaches for it anyway, taking it from his hands. Their fingers brush, just for a matter of fractions of a second, but Edward's electronic brain scrambles to register every single detail about this sensation, just to file it away somewhere, even if for no purpose at all.

He watches the other take a good look at the small piece of fruit in his hand, then take a bite into it. He chews it a little, then shrugs, as if to communicate it's not bad.

«Are you gonna explain why you destroyed a bunch of watermelons with...» Oswald's eyes travel to the table, where his tool is still laying, covered in juice, «...a hammer, of all things?»

Edward looks back at his mess, then back at him.

«Research purposes. The human body is fascinating, but they won't let me smash skulls, hence, the watermelons.»

Oswald starts coughing, and Edward's danger sensors alarm him, basically screaming at him to do something, but he doesn't know what to do. He has too many conflicting instructions, so he just raises his hands as if to reach for Oswald, but then freezes with a concerned look on his face. Luckily, the other waves a hand at him, as if to dismiss his attempt to help, while covering his mouth with the other hand. Edward slowly drops his hands, slightly tilting his head when he realizes the other is... laughing?

Oswald looks up at him, tears in his eyes, Edward isn't sure if from the coughing or the laughing, but either way, he relaxes, now that he is sure the other is fine, but he still fails to see the hilarity on all of this.

«I'm sorry. You are just...» Oswald begins, but then leaves the sentence hanging, seemingly lost, staring at Edward. It makes him wonder if he has something on his face, or something.

«I'm what?» he asks, curious and, frankly, still just a little bit concerned.

Oswald's smile is forcibly repressed and he looks away, subtly biting his lip.

«Never mind. Well, it was good to see you, but now I have business to attend to.»

Edward is confused by that statement. Good to see him? That just doesn't compute.

«I haven't been able to fulfill my purpose, yet. I'm sorry.» he says, looking contrite.

The other frowns, opening his mouth as if to speak, but then closes it instead and takes a step closer.

«You are doing great. Just... continue doing whatever it is you are doing.»

«Am I?» Edward is seriously surprised. Oswald's statement makes no sense to him, unless it's a lie, or unless the other is concealing his true thoughts. Yes, that's gotta be it, he decides. But he also decides that it's not his place to pry. He assumes Oswald must have his reasons.

«Yeah, you are, uh... you are great- I mean, _doing_ great, um, well. Gotta go. See you soon, my friend.»

He stands there and watches Oswald spin on himself and quickly walk away, throwing away his half eaten piece of watermelon in the trash on his way out.

What Edward couldn't know, is that Oswald resisted the urge to slap his own face, but not to roll his eyes at himself, luckily though, he waits long enough that Edward can't see him do it.

What Edward does know, is that Oswald just called him his “friend”. If he had been a human, that would have been the kind of thing to keep him awake at night, but luckily for him, he isn't human, so he doesn't sleep, so he won't be loosing any sleep at all.

What he can do, is to try to take his mind off this matter, by occupying it in some other way, which turns out to be perfectly useless. First of all, because there isn't much for him to do, at the moment, besides clean up the mess he's made, and secondly, because his brain is perfectly capable of running a secondary task on a lower level in the background. Said task, right now, consists in trying to peel away at all the layers of implications of that epithet.

«Okay, here's another one.»

Kristen is already rolling her eyes, but she tries to hide it, bowing her head, then she looks up again with a small smile, and she gestures for him to continue.

«A man is writing a letter. The power goes out and he dies. Why?» he asks, barely containing the excitement. He likes this one.

«Uh...» Kristen leans back in her chair and she looks like she is thinking about it. Edward is glad she's humoring him, but he knows she isn't that much into riddles. She isn't very good at solving them either.

«Do you give up?»

It's been about thirty seconds. She sighs and nods.

«He was writing his letter while on board an airplane.» he explains with a bright smile.

She lowers her head and smiles.

«That was clever.» she comments. Edward believes so too. He is proud.

«Another one-»

«Please. Edward... I have some work to do. I appreciate your company, but I really need to-»

«I can help.»

He sees her eyes widen, and he takes it as a sign that she doesn't like that idea.

«...Or not.» he says, causing her to chuckle softly.

«Don't take this personally. I like doing my job alone. In silence.»

«I understand.» he doesn't, «I will leave you alone.» what he understands though, is that she gets easily tired of him. But she is the only person who's nice to him in there, so he has no choice but to latch onto her. He admits to himself that he gets lonely, and it's discouraging to always be met with indifference, if not with outward hostility. It's nice to receive a smile for a change, even if sometimes it's kind of forced.

He returns to the morgue, but once he is alone again, he finds himself missing Oswald even more.

He hasn't stopped thinking about their last interaction even for a second. Oswald called him his friend. That's good, great even. He would love to have a friend, even more so, to be Oswald's friend. He can't help but consider the fact – because it's a fact – that Oswald always refers to Jim as “his friend” and similar names, so he can't help but wonder if there is a connection there. Since Oswald clearly has feelings for Jim, so maybe... he forces himself to stop. He's been there a thousand times, and no, it's not an exaggeration, but every time, he reaches the same place and every time he drops this entirely because, well, it might be hard to believe, and he didn't even think it would be possible for him to feel this way, and he wonders why they made him this way, capable of feeling this, but it _hurts_. It hurts because there is no way that that is the solution to this riddle, no matter how desperately he wants it to be.

Oswald finds himself back at the precinct again. He just doesn't know how to do any different. He can't help it.

Jim nods at him in a greeting gesture, but Oswald barely acknowledges him by briefly smiling back. He does a b-line for the morgue, and nobody even tries to stop him. Even Jim gave up.

He hears Edward's voice and he smiles to himself, before realizing that he is talking to someone. When he opens the door, he sees Kristen and she is laughing. Edward immediately notices Oswald and he smiles brightly at him.

«Oswald! Hello.»

Oswald glares at Kristen for a moment, but he quickly focuses back on the robot, smiling back at him.

«Hello, Ed.» he says, walking closer. He sees Kristen tense up and inconspicuously take a step back. She must be intimidated by him. Good, he thinks, as she should be.

«What brings you here?» Edward asks.

«Oh, I was in the neighborhood. You know.» this is a blatant lie. He specifically organized his day so he would have some time to stop by. This is no accident.

He focuses back on her, studying the woman for a moment, undoubtedly making her uncomfortable, given her reaction – avoiding his gaze, shifting her weight from one foot to another.

«I think I should go.» she says. Oswald smiles.

«See you later for your lunch break?» Edward asks while she is walking away. She stops before reaching the door and briefly turns around to face Ed, nervously glancing at Oswald.

«Sure.» she says, before quickly leaving the room.

Oswald watched her walk away, he watches the door close behind her. He can't help but be upset. And wonder. Why would they be having lunch together? Edward doesn't even eat! Then he feels it, the sting of jealously. Oh, no. He begins to realize. While it's fun, playing this way, it's a dangerous game and the risk of getting hurt is high. He panics a little, realizing that he is, in fact, absolutely jealous. He turns back to Edward and he finds him smiling, giving him a curious look.

«I... I just remembered, I... I have to go. Sorry. See you soon!»

Before the other has any time to reply, he is already out of the morgue. Walking back, he catches sight of Jim. He thinks this is the perfect occasion to prove to himself that he isn't too far gone. He started all of this because of Jim, remember? Before he has time to think, he finds himself standing in front of Jim's desk. The detective gives him an interrogatory, vaguely wary, look.

«Can I help you?» Jim asks.

Oswald feels the panic rise as he realizes he didn't have a plan when he walked up to him, and he stands there, smiling like the idiot that he feels, wondering what the fuck is wrong with him.

«Would you like to have lunch? With me? Some time?»

If nobody could see him, he would slap himself in the face. He actually kinda wishes the earth would swallow him whole right there and then, especially when he sees Jim's expression. The detective blinks, then makes eye contact with someone behind Oswald, and he realizes that Harvey just returned from wherever, holding coffee. Harvey walks around him, placing a second coffee on the desk for Jim. He can see his expression. Wide eyes, raised eyebrows, barely concealed smile. He starts fuming. They are making fun of him, both of them. It's so clear. Jim reciprocates Harvey's look and takes the coffee, giving the other detective a smile as if to say “oh, shut up”.

Oswald realizes he's made a fool of himself in front of both detectives and he has never felt angrier. Angry at himself for getting into this situation, although, he likes to pretend he is mostly angry at them for mocking him, and at Jim for refusing his advances. On the subject, Jim hasn't exactly refused, not yet, and the man must realize he's yet to answer too, so he gets serious again, meeting his eyes.

«Look... Oswald, it's nothing personal, but-»

Oswald decides to put a stop to this before he can be humiliated even further and he lets out a short laugh, interrupting the detective.

«You are right. You are right. This couldn't work. Sorry to have bothered you, have a good day.» he directs one last glare at Harvey on his way out, before walking away as fast as he can while not appearing like he's in a rush to leave.

This feels like the worst day of his life so far, and that's saying something, because there have been some pretty bad ones. He tells himself he's just being dramatic, and maybe that's true, but that doesn't take away the fact that this was a disaster from start to finish. He guesses he can do pretty stupid things when he is panicking and maybe he should work on that, but now the damage is done, and he doesn't think he will be able to face Jim again, not with his dignity intact, at least.

So, that's a bridge he just burned. How fun. What other aspect of his life can he mess up next? He sarcastically asks himself. And all of this, because he couldn't accept the fact that he is feeling jealous. Because he couldn't accept that every time he sees Edward interact with that woman he wishes he could beat her to death, and because he couldn't accept that he can't deny his feelings anymore. He is falling for Edward, and there isn't much he can do about it.

Except... he could get rid of the woman, then Edward would have to pay more attention to him- nope. That's not a good idea. Edward got into a fight to protect her from her abusive boyfriend, what would he think of Oswald if he was the one to hurt her? This is even more painful to think about, because it might mean Edward really cares about her, and if that's so, Oswald can't help but wonder how deep that feeling runs... he can't stand to think about this, so he decides he will have to win him over the good old fashioned way. He is gonna court him. That works on robots, too, right? Probably.

First step, he decides to bring Edward a gift. It's been a while since he has done something like this, but he hopes that it will remind Ed of the times that's happened before, and maybe they will bond over that shared pleasant memory too. That's a good place to start, he decides.

So, the next day he shows up to the precinct again. Nobody seems so surprised to see him. He takes a look around and notices that neither Jim or Harvey are there. Good, actually, that's for the best, honestly, after yesterday's fiasco. Anyhow, he is't there for them. He walks to the morgue, holding a small package. He knocks on the door, but he gets to answer, so he peeks inside. Nobody is there. He wonders where the hell Edward could be. He turns back, and he calls the first officer he runs into.

«Hey. Hey, you! Where is Edward?»

«Uh... the robot?» the other asks.

«Yeah, the robot. Where is he?» he insists, impatiently.

The man shrugs. Oswald rolls his eyes, then stops and thinks. Oh. Oh, he hopes he is wrong, but he has to try.

«Where is that woman with the glasses?»

The officer looks annoyed at his questions, but Oswald ignores that.

«You mean Kristen?»

«Sure, I mean Kristen.»

«She is probably in the archive-»

«Finally. Thank you.»

Oswald quickly walks in the direction the officer pointed him to, and he finds the right room. He opens the door without even knocking, because at this point he is just irritated enough to forsake good manners, and he isn't happy about what he finds. Well, he is happy he finally found Edward, he is less happy to assess he was right. Both turn to the door and look at him in silence for a moment, too surprised by his sudden entrance to react.

«Oswald?» Edward asks. They are both standing on the other side of the room, a few drawers open in around them.

Oswald clears his throat, then walks closer.

«Hello, sorry to barge in this way, I've been looking for you.»

Edward raises his eyebrows, and so does the woman.

«You were? Did something happen?» Edward asks, taking a couple steps closer, visibly concerned.

He briefly laughs, dismissing his worry with a vague gesture of the hand.

That's when Edward's eyes fall on his other hand, the one that's holding the small package.

«What's that?» the robot asks.

Oswald starts to feel awkward, feeling the woman's eyes on him as well as Ed's. He doesn't want to do this in front of her... but wait, maybe he does. Yeah, maybe she needs to see this. He straightens his back and smiles, stepping closer.

«Oh, it's nothing, just a small gift.»

«A gift?» Edward asks, as Oswald hands it to him. The robot studies it, undoubtedly quite literally weighting it and trying to figure out its contents, «For me?»

Oswald nods. He glances at the woman, and he sees that she is watching this exchange curiously.

«Well, open it!» he encourages Ed. And so the robot does, carefully removing the paper, to reveal a small wooden box.

«It's a puzzle.» Edward states, it's not even a question. Oswald nods again.

«Thank you.» the other says, evidently still too surprised to smile immediately, but then he does, and it lits up the whole room. Oswald smiles back. It takes him a moment longer to realize that the woman is watching him and he feels suddenly extremely self-conscious. He wonders if it's so obvious, if she can tell how he feels. He wonder if she's judging him too... but then, he considers, if he is right and she does feel the same way for Edward, she really can't judge him, can she? Unless he is wrong, in which case... well, better for her.

«I will get to work to solve it later. I'm busy at the moment, I already promised Kristen I would help her with-...»

Oswald frowns, but he is pleasantly surprised when she is the one to interrupt.

«Don't worry, we have time. Take a break if you need to.»

Edward looks at her, then at Oswald. He stares for a bit longer than Oswald is comfortable with, making him start to wonder if there's something wrong, but then, Edward looks down at the puzzle and finally speaks.

«No, that's not right. I already gave my word. But I really appreciate this, thank you very much, my friend.»

Oswald's heart skips a beat. Does Edward really consider him a friend? Is that even good or bad? He can't tell. He is too flustered to think straight at the moment so he just smiles and nods.

«Of course, yes, I don't wanna impose, I will just... I'm gonna leave. Let me know how it goes, uh, I guess. Bye.» He says, before quickly leaving.

Edward watches Oswald leave, and it's only when he feels Kristen's eyes on him that he comes back to reality.

«What?» he asks, and he only now realizes he's been clutching the wooden box close to his chest. He gets flustered and he leaves his hands drops to his sides, trying to pretend like nothing happened. He admits feeling this flustered is kinda new too, for him. It's not entirely unpleasant, but it's definitely odd. It's a mixture of panic and delight, and it's kinda confusing.

She smiles, giving him what's supposed to be a knowing look, but he has to wonder what, exactly, she thinks she knows.

«What!?» he repeats, slightly louder.

She chuckles, shaking her head.

«What was that?» she asks.

Edward stares at her for a moment, then looks down at the thing in his hand, and he raises it to eye level.

«It's a puzzle.»

She laughs again, gently placing her hand over his and pushing the box aside.

«No, not that. I meant...» he pauses, gesticulating vaguely in the air, sort of pointing at all of Edward and at the door, presumably referring to the man who was just there, «...that. What just happened?» she sounds amused and just a little bit confused.

«I don't know what you mean.» he says, and he mostly means it, but judging by the face she gives him, she doesn't believe it one bit.

He averts his eyes and decides to give the puzzle a chance. Right now? Yes, right now. Anything to divert the conversation and distract his mind from what Kristen is trying to make him think about. He walks around the desk and sits down, starting to study the box. It's composed of removable parts, like small blocks, it shouldn't take too long to figure it out, if only he could concentrate... Gosh, is this how humans feel? How do they get anything done? For the first time, he is actually having trouble doing two things at once. Well, three, actually. Trying to solve the puzzle, avoiding dealing with his feelings, and three, trying to ignore Kristen's gaze.

Once again, she walks closer and she places one hand on the puzzle, gently pushing it out of the way, forcing Edward to place it on the table and look at at her instead.

«I hadn't realized...» she pauses, taking the care to find the right words, «I figured he's into you, and I thought that was odd enough, but now it turns out... you like him too.»

Edward's jaw drops without his permission and he stares at her for a few long seconds, before recovering his ability to speak.

«I- I don't... I don't!» okay, that wasn't the smartest sentence he's ever said. What's wrong with him today?

«Sure. You might think that, but if I didn't know any better... I'd say you are acting the way a human does when they have a crush.» she comments, crossing her arms.

Edward looks down at the puzzle in his hands again. He can't bear to sustain her gaze any longer, she knows too much. Possibly even more than he knows. How is that possible? With all the knowledge in his synthetic brain, how can he not know this?

He fidgets with the cube in his hands, trying to avoid her eyes, but then he has to admit it.

«Let's suppose you are right. That I do have these... feelings. I don't know how to navigate them. I wasn't programmed for this, I don't know what I'm supposed to do. It's confusing and scary, and kind of exciting, but it hurts too, sometimes.»

When he finally looks up, he sees that she is smiling at him. A small smile filled with pity. She steps closer and gently places one hand over one of his, in a gesture that he interprets as encouragement.

«Oh, Edward... I had no idea. If it can make you feel any better, well, humans don't really know what to do with feelings either. Feelings are often complicated and confusing, that's sort of their nature, I guess.»

Edward registers all that information and files it away for safe keeping. He nods slightly.

After that, Kristen's attitude towards him has changes noticeably. She has always been polite, and even kind, to him. But now she is more open, more honest, more patient and if possible a little affectionate too. This makes Edward happy. He can't sense any sign of pretense when she smiles or jokes around. He supposes that maybe she appreciates his company a little more, now that she knows he has all these feelings. Maybe she's come to see him more like a person. He isn't sure how he feels about this, but he knows it feels good to have a friend.

So, in response, he's been pushing their boundaries a bit more, to see if they have changed, and establish where they are now. It turns out that she doesn't mind him talking about his feelings or asking questions about them. She happily answers however she can. She is still not entirely keen on the riddles, though. That hasn't changed.

«Can I ask something?»

Edward is surprised by that but he nods. She puts her lunch aside for a moment. They are both sitting on her desk, during her lunch break. They are making a habit of doing this, especially now that she seems to actually enjoy his company.

«What does it feel like? To have a crush I mean, for you. With you being a robot and all that.»

«What do you mean?»

She hesitates, looking as if she's regretting asking in the first place, but she presses on.

«Well... crushes usually come with a series of physical sensations, but I'm guessing you don't experience those, so...»

Edward looks at her for a moment longer, then nods. He has to think about it.

«That's true. I suppose I just... my mind feels overloaded, it makes it difficult to keep track of thoughts. When I see him I feel... happy, I guess. You see, when they made me, they said I had a glitch. I did things that I wasn't supposed to do. Like riddles.» he pauses, giving her space to chuckle at that, «That's because I have a system in place in my brain that makes me find it rewarding to solve a puzzle. I was made this way to incentivize my problem solving abilities. That's what happens when I see him. That same system activates and if I can make him smile, I feel like I have accomplished something great, you know? I suppose this is just another glitch... I am defective in that way, after all. The engineers who made me wouldn't be pleased to find out I feel this way for a human. They would probably try to fix me.»

Edward looks at her again, realizing he's been talking for a long time, but when he does he is surprised to find that her eyes seem to have gotten watery. She is smiling at him so sweetly.

«Oh... Ed, there's nothing to fix about you. You are great the way you are.»

He opens his mouth, unsure what to say to that. He appreciates those words, and decides to hold onto them.

«Thank you.» he says, angling his body towards her. He notices she is doing the same, but he isn't sure what is happening or what he is supposed to do, until it happens. She wraps her arms around him. He hesitates, but eventually reciprocates.

He has never hugged someone before. He didn't know it would feel this nice.

Suddenly, Kristen pulls back, so he turns to see what she's looking at, and finds out Oswald is standing in the doorway with his mouth open and his eyebrows raised. The man quickly changes expression, averting his gaze and frowning a little.

Oswald has walked into the archive without knocking again. In his defense, the door wasn't even closed. Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw. It's probably nothing, he tells himself, just a hug, but still. He feels his heart sink and a moment later, anger takes over.

As soon as he recovers from the stupor, a briefly glares at the woman. He has to let her know not to touch Edward ever again. But for the time being, he puts on a police facade.

«Oh, I'm so sorry. Am I interrupting something?»

«No!» Edward exclaims, pulling away from her.

«Oh, gosh, no.» she confirms.

Edward and the woman exchange a brief look, before looking back at him. Oswald doesn't like this newfound complicity between the two of them. He decides in this moment that he has no choice but to warn her not to get in his way. That seems fair, right? Once she's been warned, he won't be responsible if she presses further, she will have only herself to blame, if something were to happen to her.

So, Oswald waits until towards the end of her shift to confront her. He wants her to be alone and he's counting on intimidating her into backing off.

She is about to leave, when she turns towards the door and she freezes, looking surprised to see him there. He can tell that she looks less scared of him now than she used to, and he isn't sure why, but he doesn't like her getting too comfortable.

«Oh, Mr Penguin. How may I help you?» she asks, trying to sound polite and perfectly calm.

«Help me?» he scoffs, laughing bitterly, «You could start by keeping your hands off Edward.»

She frowns.

«Excuse me?»

«I couldn't help but notice you've grown closer, recently.» he says, walking a little closer. She takes a step back.

«He is a friend.»

Oswald scoffs again at that.

«“Friend”? Don't think I don't know what's going on. You think you can come between us, but Edward and I, we share a connection you won't be able to break, so, back off.» he takes a few steps closer, stopping only a couple feet away. She stands her ground this time, but it's not like she'd have anywhere to go even if she wanted to. She's cornered between him and the desk.

«Mr Penguin, you are misreading the situation. I'm not-»

«Am I? Because it seems to me like every day you get a little bolder. You might think you have a chance at winning, but you don't. This is a dangerous game to play, Kristin.»

«Uh... it's Krist _e_ n.» she corrects him.

Oswald rolls his eyes and shakes his head at that. Whatever, it's just a detail. As far as he is concerned, she is just trying to derail the conversation.

«You get my point.»

There's a short pause, during which she seems to be studying him, maybe evaluating what his reaction will be, and trying to choose her next words wisely.

«I do, but... I insist that you are mistaken.»

«I don't really think I am.»

«But you are!» Oswald's eyebrows shoot up. He is surprised by her sudden change of tone, and he isn't happy to note that she does actually sound a little bolder. «I understand that because you like him so much, you assume everyone must like him the same way, but I don't! I have no feelings for Edward, I'm not even sure I could ever, for a robot. But I care about him, which is why it's important that you know-»

She almost had him, for a brief moment, but then she got to that last part, and that really upset Oswald, so much that he doesn't even let her finish.

«How dare you speak to me this way?!» he raises his voice, taking one more step closer.

She immediately backs away, bumping into her desk, raising her hands defensively.

«I apologize, but-»

«You are right to apologize. You are getting on my nerves. All I want you to do, is to stay away from my Edward, is that so hard to understand!? Do as I say, or pay the consequences.»

Suddenly, he realizes that she isn't looking at him anymore. He wonders what could be so interesting to take her attention away from him, the man currently threatening her. It takes him a few more seconds to catch up and realize they aren't alone anymore. He turns around, and his eyes go wide when he sees the robot standing there. _Shit_ – he thinks to himself. He didn't mean for him to hear any of this. He wonders how long he's been there, how much of that conversation he heard. Any amount can't be good.

«Edward...» he says, unsure how to continue.

«I'll leave you two alone. You clearly need to talk.» Kristen says, quickly walking past him and towards Edward, who is still standing at the door. They exchange a quick look that Oswald doesn't understand, then she walks out, closing the door behind her, and now they are alone.

Edward only heard the last part of that conversation, but it was enough for him to put together the rest from context clues. He is still in a state that one might define of shock. Meaning that what he just learned was so surprising that he froze and he isn't sure what he should do next. He forces himself out of this state, realizing that Oswald is still staring at him from across the room. He chooses to walk a little closer, then he stops and decides to speak.

Even he is having a hard time believing he is about to ask this question, but once he put together all the evidence, it's undeniable, unless there's something else he isn't seeing, so now, above anything else, he really needs to know.

«Oswald, are you jealous?»

He sees Oswald change five different expressions in the span of a second, ranging from surprise, to awkwardness, confusion, denial and panic.

«No! What? No, of course I'm not... I'm not jealous, I'm not!»

Edward studies him. The other is clearly nervous, but maybe it's unfair to assume this must mean he isn't telling the truth. He decides to give him the benefit of the doubt, and takes a couple steps closer.

«Then, why were you speaking like that to Kristen? What does “All I want you to do, is stay away from Edward” mean? What consequences are you talking about? Were you seriously threatening her?»

Edward watches Oswald fumble and he notices he is beginning to sweat. He walks even closer, but Oswald doesn't move away, he just stares.

«I wasn't!»

«Are you sure? Because it sounded a lot like you were threatening her.»

Edward walks even closer, stopping about three feet away. He sees the other man clench and unclench his fists by his sides.

«Did it? Oh, well, I'm sorry it came off that way, I didn't... I wasn't... uh...» Oswald trails off, freezing when he sees Edward get even closer and raise one hand, and watches until said hand reaches his chest.

It only takes Edward a few seconds, but this time Oswald doesn't pull away. Edward stares into the man's eyes, trying to read his thoughts, but he can't, even if the other does nothing but stare back.

«Your heart rate is accelerated. Your pupils are dilated. Oswald...»

Finally, the man looks away, and Edward removes his hand from his chest.

«Alright, fine! I'm jealous. Are you happy? I said it.»

Edward can tell the man is really flustered now. He refuses to look back at him, no matter how much Edward tries to follow his eyes, the other won't look back.

«Thank you for your honesty, but I still don't understand what reasons you could have to be.»

Suddenly, Oswald's eyes are back in his, and the man stares for a brief moment with a slight frown.

«You don't understand?» the man scoffs, «You spend all the time together! You work here together, you spend her lunch break with her, you are always talking and laughing, and she gets to listen to you, and touch you... How could I not be jealous!?»

After he's done talking, Oswald seems to realize the weight of what he just confessed and he looks away again. Edward still isn't sure he gets it.

«You visit often, and I'm glad you do. I wish we got to spend more time together, you and I. But for the time being, I'm simply doing the best of my situation. Kristen is the only person in this entire precinct who is nice to me. She cares and pays attention. She gets annoyed with me, sometimes, but she is never rude. It helps to have someone like that when I would otherwise be so lonely.»

«Oh.»

Edward can see the spark of realization in his eyes, but chooses to continue, because he isn't done speaking yet.

«You know, I'm grateful you took care of Dougherty, and he deserved what he got. But he was only part of it. Sure, he was the one who hit me, but there were other officers who stood there and did nothing. They are all still here, and I see them every day. It's not easy existing here, knowing what people around me really think of me. So, yes, I got closer to Kristen, I managed to make a friend. I think I should be afforded one.»

He can tell Oswald feels guilty now, by the way he is looking at him. Edward doesn't back down or look away, but despite appearances, this is a highly emotional moment for him.

«I'm so sorry, Edward. I... I didn't realize. I should have never brought you here, that was a mistake. You should have stayed with me.»

Edward frowns.

«What about my purpose? How could I accomplish it if I wasn't here?»

He is actually confused by Oswald's words. He is surprised when Oswald shakes his head with a light frown.

«Forget about that, forget about Jim. That didn't work anyway, and I don't think I care anymore.»

This only makes Edward even more confused. He looks down, starting to consider the implications of this. Forgetting about his purpose? How can Oswald ask something like this?

«But... what will be of me, now? Without a purpose... who am I? What am I supposed to do?»

He looks up and he sees Oswald offering him a small smile.

«Just because this isn't your purpose anymore, it doesn't mean you don't have one. You can choose your own, now. That's what human do.»

Edward hesitates, but he smiles. He isn't sure what this means either, but those words gave him hope.

«So... what now?» he asks, still looking for directions. Oswald shrugs.

«It's your life, you can do whatever you want. Anything you can think of.» Oswald pauses, then adds, in a quieter tone, «I wish you would just come back with me, but, whatever you wish to do, I will still support you.»

«Whatever I want to do?» he asks one last time for confirmation. The other nods. «I want to spend all my time with you. Come back to your house, hang out at the lab sometimes, like we used to.»

He sees Oswald's eyes go wide and a large smile slowly form on his face. Edward offers a small smile in return.

«There's something else I would like to try... something humans do, but I've never done before.»

Edward is being a bit bold with this, but at this point, he let Oswald's words go to his head. Whatever he wants, Oswald said. If he wasn't lying, then there's no reason to hold back anymore.

«Sure! Whatever it is, just go for it!» Oswald encourages him, still smiling brightly.

Edward walks closer, until there's only a few inches between them. Oswald's eyes look bigger as he stares up at him in anticipation.

«Are you sure?» he asks, while taking the time to admire the other's eyes. The man nods. «Do I have permission?»

Oswald looks confused for a moment, but then he shrugs and nods. Well, there goes nothing, then.

Edward leans in, connecting their lips. It immediately registers to him how soft they feel against his own. He chooses to bring his hands behind Oswald's neck, while the other hesitantly places his on the robot's chest. He doesn't pull away, which, Edward thinks, is a positive thing. This lasts several seconds, and Edward wonders how long is enough, but then he is the one to pull back, mainly because he really wants to see the other's face again, and he feels the need to check for his reaction.

Oswald surely wasn't expecting this. He gently grabs onto the robot's sweater, letting himself be pulled into the kiss, still struggling to believe this is actually happening. He can feel his heart about to jump out of his chest. Then, suddenly, the other pulls away, and he opens his eyes again, finding himself helplessly staring at him, unable and unwilling to take his hands off him.

Oswald is in awe and unable to speak for several seconds. He wouldn't even know what to say. But then, he notices the other starting to frown a little, and he understands that the robot must be starting to second guess himself, so he decides to ease the tension.

«Was this what you wanted to try?» he asks, still in disbelief.

Edward nods. Oswald's smile falters for a moment, then he averts his eyes.

«You wanted to try kissing... that's fair, I suppose. But you should be more careful who you do this with, you can't just walk around kissing people unless you have serious intentions, you know? You might not be aware of this, maybe because you are a robot, I don't know, but... people can get hurt this way.»

Edward watches Oswald's expression gradually change from happy to a much sadder one, his smile turns almost bitter. He doesn't understand what he did wrong, he is very confused.

«What do you mean with “serious intentions”?»

He has to ask. Everything Oswald is saying makes no sense to him. He thought Oswald was happy he had kissed him, but now he isn't so sure, and his words only served to confuse him further.

«I mean... a romantic relationship, of course.» Oswald says in a tone that screams “duh!!”, but despite his half smile, Edward can detect no real humor behind it. He determines that Oswald is still hurt, but Ed isn't sure why, yet. He starts to believe there must have been some kind of misunderstanding here, and he needs to clarify things as soon as possible.

«I want to have one. If you were wondering about my intentions.»

He says this and he watches Oswald's face lit up again.

«You mean it? A romantic relationship? With me?» Oswald sounds like he doesn't believe him. He decides he should reassure him by explaining himself a little better.

«I know I said that having Kristen here makes me feel less lonely, but sometimes it's not enough. I miss you every day and I'm only really happy when you come by. I admit, I'm jealous of Jim. I never understood what you find in him. I always wonder what's so special about him that makes you like him.»

Suddenly, Oswald's lips are on his own again. The other's hands cupping his face, pulling him down into the kiss. Edward is surprised, but he recovers fast enough and wraps his arms around the other's waist, pulling him closer.

When they finally pull apart, they don't move from each other's arms, but Edward feels the need to ask. He wants to hear it. Humans and feelings are already so confusing, he believes a bit of verbal conformation can't hurt.

«So, what does this mean?»

Oswald smiles.

«I want you all for myself, I wish I could just steal you away and take you back... you can come back with me if you like. You don't have to be here, if you don't want to.»

Edward thinks about it.

«I like my job, though.»

Oswald looks taken aback for a moment, but he recovers fast enough.

«Do you? Do you like being here, interacting with these people, feeling judged and fearing for your safety? Or do you just like the part where you get to help solve cases like they are big puzzles?» Oswald pauses and Ed thinks about it. He supposes the man has a point. «With your brilliant mind you could do so much more, _be_ so much more. Nobody here appreciates you, they way they treat you isn't fair. You deserve better than this, and they, well, they just don't deserve _you_.»

Edward really thinks about it.

«You are right.» he has to admit this. Oswald said he gets to find his own purpose now, so he decides this is gonna be it. «Nobody appreciates it when I try to help them... they consider me inferior, nobody cares... and no one ever even likes my riddles. I think it's because nobody is smart enough to solve them.»

Oswald nods encouragingly in agreement. Edward smiles.

«I guess, if no one will appreciate me and my riddles, that leaves me no choice but to _make them_.» he concludes.

Oswald smiles back, his hands still lingering on Ed's shoulders.

«Well, then. That sounds like a plan to me.» Oswald says.

«Shall we?» Edward asks, moving aside and gesturing to the door, offering an arm for Oswald, who understands his intentions and immediately locks their arms together.

Edward admits to himself he is gonna miss some parts of this chapter of his life. He is gonna miss solving cases, he is gonna miss Kristen too, but more than anything, he can't wait to start this new chapter.

Now that he has Oswald by his side, and now that he's found his new purpose, nothing can get in his way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand it's done. Wow, okay, it really took me forever lmao i'm sorry!! In the summer i'm very low energy and writing requires my brain to do impossible things such as "thinking", so, oof.
> 
> Anyway, despite everything, this chapter was fun to write, this entire story, actually. I'm happy with how it turned out, and i hope you liked it too! :)
> 
> I wanted the ending to be a little open, and hint at the fact that he becomes the Riddler. Also, i managed to save Kristen in this one, so, she is alive and stays that way. Rest in fucking pieces Dougherty, the only fucker who died this time, lmao


End file.
